Arsenal continued to lose their advantage in the Premier League title race when Pedro Neto's 70th-minute goal helped Chelsea get a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The "Gunners" will enter the international break with a gap of 9 points less than the leader Liverpool. And they are also behind third-placed The Blues on goal difference. Neto's stunning long-range shot helped The Blues tie 1-1, when Gabriel Martinelli had opened the scoring for Arsenal.
Declan Rice is still a regular for The Gunners despite a broken toe last weekend. Martin Odegaard also made his first appearance in the tournament since August 31 after an ankle injury.
On Chelsea's side, Cole Palmer overcame a knee injury to play for The Blues. The England international left his mark with a long-range shot that forced goalkeeper David Raya to save early in the match.
Kai Havertz seemed to have opened the scoring for the "Gunners" in the 32nd minute but was disallowed for offside when reviewing VAR. After Martinelli and Neto scored, both teams were determined to find a goal and created a tense match.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta even knelt on the touchline as his players missed the opportunity in extra time. Obviously, 1 point cannot satisfy both teams.
Before the match, Arteta did not hesitate to talk about the importance of captain Odegaard. And what happened at Stamford Bridge was true to this strategist's assessment.
Odegaard's assist in the 60th minute showed a great tactical vision. The Norwegian midfielder saw space to hang the ball for Martinelli to run down and finish. Chelsea's defense did not play focused in this phase but it must be affirmed that this was a good situation for Arsenal. This was also Odegaard's first assist in more than 2 months.
In recent times, the "Gunners" have lacked flexibility in attack. And when Odegaard returned, he brought calmness when holding the ball combined with quality moments to help break the deadlock.
Arsenal have lost just one of their 22 Premier League games in 2024 in which Odegaard has featured. That was a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on 14 April. Only Liverpool's Cole Palmer (1) and Mohamed Salah (4) have more assists from open play than Odegaard (8) in 2024.
"I think we had a good game. Arsenal started well, created opportunities but we were very unlucky. We missed a few clear chances.
We have dominated one of the strongest teams in Europe but have not achieved the result of 3 points. That was what was missing," said Arteta after the draw with Chelsea.
