Chelsea vs Arsenal analysis: Unai Emery's high line is high risk but Gunners expose vulnerable Jorginho

Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2 in a pulsating London Premier League derby on Saturday with defender Marcos Alonso scoring an 81st-minute winner after the Gunners had fought back from an early 2-0 deficit.

In a hectic first half, Chelsea went ahead in the ninth minute when Pedro buried a cross by Alonso. Out-of-form striker Alvaro Morata scored only his second league goal of 2018, fed by a through ball from Cesar Azpilicueta 11 minutes later.

Arsenal clawed their way back into the game in the 37th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan drilled in a low shot that Kepa Arrizabalaga -- the world's most expensive goalkeeper making his home debut -- could not keep out. Alex Iwobi made it 2-2 four minutes later as Arsenal exploited Chelsea's vulnerability on the flanks.

In a tighter second half, neither side could carve out as many chances but Alonso settled the game when Belgium winger Eden Hazard

Standard Sport's James Olley assesses the key talking points from Stamford Bridge...

Hazard reminds Chelsea – and Real Madrid – of his worth

Eden Hazard was not deemed fit enough to start but despite being restricted to a 29-minute cameo at Stamford Bridge, the Belgian had sufficient time to provide a reminder of superb talent. The 27-year-old shows several silky touches when coming on and created the game’s decisive moment, escaping down the left flank and crossing for Marcus Alonso to sweep the ball home from close-range. Arsenal fans sang “Eden Hazard, he’s off to Madrid” and while speculation over a mega-money move to Real, either this summer or next, continues apace, Chelsea supporters shouted his name at the full-time whistle making sure they savour every moment he continues to stay in west London.

Emery’s high line is high risk

The difficulty of Arsenal’s opening matches would have prompted some managers to compromise their long-term plans in pursuit of short-term pragmatism but not Unai Emery. He insisted on his defenders playing out from the back – inviting the pressure that led to Chelsea’s fast start – but also on overloading in wide areas and playing predominantly with a high line particularly early on which, while risky, helped Arsenal create a plethora of first-half chances to offset their errant defending. The players are still adjusting, understandably so, hence there was a mixture of poor mistakes and good football and Emery will hope there were sufficient signs here despite Alonso’s late winner that his approach will be even more effective against weaker opposition.

Jorginho’s midfield positioning

It was something of a surprise that Jorginho continued to anchor Chelsea’s three-man midfield despite N’Golo Kante’s return at Huddersfield last week and Maurizio Sarri stuck with that selection here with mixed results. The advantages of having a deep-lying playmaker were shown in Pedro’s ninth-minute opener as Jorginho played a superb ball for Marcus Alonso to race in behind the Arsenal defence and set-up his Spanish team-mate. However, his vulnerability out of possession was exposed as the Gunners revived their fortunes with a series of similar chances, getting to the byline and cutting the ball back into an area the £57million man had vacated. Kante is a master at sensing danger in those situations – Sarri may have food for thought in whether to persevere with that deployment going forward.

Xhaka’s faces a fight for a starting place

Lucas Torreira’s absence from Arsenal’s starting line-up was a surprise given the Uruguayan was brought in from Sampdoria precisely to embolden their midfield in games like this. Emery instead opted for a continued show of faith in Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka after the pair struggled to contain Manchester City on the opening weekend. While Guendouzi showed an appetite for the task and a bravery in possession, Xhaka’s half could be summed up like this: from kick-off, he kicked the ball straight out of play and at half-time he was substituted. Torreira is surely a starter when he’s full up to speed and given Guendouzi’s promising start, Xhaka may be the one to give way presuming Emery sticks with his current system.

Morata’s morale-boost

One goal won’t change the trajectory of his Chelsea career in isolation but Alvaro Morata has to start somewhere. The Spaniard benefitted from some terrible defending by Shkodran Mustafi to score his first goal since April 22 – and his first Premier League goals since April 1 – in the 20th minute, but the manner in which he took it, wrongfooting both Mustafi and then Petr Cech will surely give him confidence for the games ahead. There were reminders of the work still to do thereafter, however, as he lost control of the ball cheaply a few times and ran down cul-de-sacs too often but Morata, substituted for Olivier Giroud with 15 minutes remaining, has something to build on now.