Comfortable Win By The Blues

This was thrilling and excruciating in equal measures, a derby to have the juices flowing, but also a vindication of all the downbeat caution expressed publicly by Maurizio Sarri and Unai Emery through the campaign’s early days.

Chelsea, so relieved to have a player of Eden Hazard’s calibre to fling on and make a difference, triumphed at Arsenal’s expense but, for all the blistering entertainment this derby whipped up, it also provided evidence aplenty as to why these teams are outsiders in the title race.

The chaos of the opening period summed it up. Whether it was Arsenal obligingly presenting their hosts with a healthy lead or, having revived, carving them open at will only to fluff their lines in front of goal, or Chelsea wilting at the back as if defensive responsibilities had been discarded with Antonio Conte, deficiencies were to the fore.

Sarri declared the last 15 minutes of the first half “horrible” and time in which it would have been “better to go for a cigarette”. The confusion made for a frenzied match but both managers appeared to age in their dugouts at the glorious mess they were witnessing. What ultimately set Sarri’s team apart was the magician on the bench to whom they could turn.

Hazard returned late from the World Cup and had spent most of the contest clad in his tracksuit, trotting up and down the touchline while suffering the goading of the travelling Arsenal fans behind one goal. There had been a period this summer when Chelsea, expecting Real Madrid to formalise interest in their prized asset, had fretted over the 27-year-old’s future at the club.