Why Arsenal’s Title Chances Still Hanging In Balance

There were two big questions to ask at Stamford Bridge, both of which might have seemed unlikely ones to pose at the start of the season – but neither Arsenal or Chelsea could find a definitive answer.

The first conundrum was: Do Arsenal still have a chance in the title race?

That one is in the balance after two points dropped and Bukayo Saka limping off injured, although there were also positives in the return of Martin Odegaard, who provided a wonderful assist for Gabriel Martinelli’s opener.

The second, even less predicted, question, was: Should revitalised Chelsea be seen as potential title contenders themselves?

Again, we were left waiting. Chelsea matched their opponents for long spells and showed character to equalise through Pedro Neto, but didn’t show the kind of ruthlessness you want to see from a title contender when Arsenal were on the back foot.

That may sound harsh, because the Blues have come an awful long way in a very short period of time; but Arsenal were there for the taking after their recent troubles, and Chelsea weren’t quite good enough to put in the knife.

To achieve clarity, we needed at least one of these teams to stamp their authority on a London derby to make their point emphatically and authoritatively. But in fact the honours were shared, and fairly so.

Perhaps the reality is there are too many twists and turns remaining this season for definitive answers of any kind.

But in Arsenal’s case this was two points dropped on a weekend when Manchester City lost and Liverpool – leaving them nine points adrift of the leaders, and it certainly doesn’t help their chances of finishing top of the pile in May.

It’s impossible, however, to over-estimate how important it was not to lose this match for the Gunners, who looked so imperious at the start of their campaign, but who have seen their season stutter in the face of injuries, red cards and no wins in their last three Premier League fixtures before arriving at Stamford Bridge (against Newcastle, Liverpool and Bournemouth) as well as a frustrating defeat at Inter in the Champions League.

They were the better team, marginally, in the first half and were set alight after the break by Odegaard’s stunning assist, a beautifully-crafted cross which left Chelsea’s defenders flummoxed, with both Martinelli and Saka completely unmarked with only goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to beat.

Martinelli made it look easy, scoring at the former Brighton man’s near post, and that was a big goal for him as well as for his club, because the winger hasn’t quite found top form this season so far.

Chelsea, by contrast, have defied critics who were openly laughing at their 50-strong squad, lack of strikers and lack of strategic cohesion back in August, with a quite remarkable campaign so far under new manager Enzo Maresca that saw them sit above Arsenal in the table at kick-off.

The fact that Maresca has been able to manage his large squad by making 11 changes every time they play in the Conference League (including last week’s 8-0 demolition of Albanian side Noah), as well as coaxing better performances from previously under-performing stars such as Moises Caicedo, has changed the narrative about his team and the club’s ownership – dramatically so.

This was an opportunity to make a big statement about their potential, perhaps for next season rather than this, but they couldn’t quite do it. That one last bit of spark was missing against a team who have spent far more years in their development.

Certainly, the sides looked evenly matched in the first half, when Arsenal just about edged it as they were unfortunate to see a goal from Kai Havertz, following a quickly-taken free-kick by Declan Rice, ruled out for offside.

Chelsea fans enjoyed that, of course, especially as Havertz, whose goals helped the Blues to victory in a Champions League Final in happier times, had dared to ‘shush’ the Matthew Harding End after his clever, but ultimately fruitless, finish.

Chelsea were most dangerous when Noni Madueke or Nicolas Jackson ran direct at the Arsenal defence, or when fit-again Cole Palmer probed from deep. But there was a lack of urgency from both sides that made the game more of a gentle fascination that a gripping drama.

That is, until Odegaard, produced his piece of magic.

The only problem for Arsenal was that they couldn’t keep the lead. They stood off Pedro Neto minutes later, allowing him to shoot low from 20m to level the scores, and wasted a late chance to win it when substitute Leandro Trossard fired over.

Liverpool and Manchester City will both be happy with this result – and Chelsea will be more content than their London rivals.