Battling Arsenal showed guts and character to stage a thrilling comeback from two goals down to earn a point in a breathless London derby at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. 

The Gunners denied former Spurs boss, now Blues supremo Mauricio Pochettino, his finest victory during his short time in west London. 

In a disappointing first half for Mikel Arteta and his side,. Chelsea went ahead through former Manchester City attacker Cole Palmer's penalty after only 15 minutes.

William Saliba was penalised for handball following the intervention of VAR, after what seemed an inordinate amount of time, before match referee Christopher Kavanagh was sent to the video monitor to review the incident. 

Arsenal looked set to suffer their first Premier League loss of the campaign, when Mykhailo Mudryk made it 2-0 only 180 seconds after the interval when he lifted the ball over the errant David Raya - who had another poor game - from an acute angle, to embarrass the Gunners netminder, who was severely out of position. 

As the clocked ticked down on an underwhelming Gunners peformance the visitors were gifted an unexpected opening when Declan Rice capitalised on Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez's sloppy clearance. The England international making no mistake to fire the ball back past the former Brighton keeper and into an empty net.

Then, with only six minutes of the 90 remaining, Arsenal found themselves level when substitute Leandro Trossard stole in at the far post to slot home for 2-2 score after the Blues backline failed to clear Bukayo Saka's cross.

Read on to find out who impressed in our Gooner Fanzine Player Ratings 

Limbs in the Arsenal end after Trossard’s equaliser here at the Bridge pic.twitter.com/EKTpB1sNBn

— Layth (@laythy29) October 21, 2023

GK: David Raya: 4/10 - No-one wants the keeper to do badlty but the truth is that his poor positioning gifted a player of Mudryk's ability a goal. Could have well conceded a third shortly afterwards. If you disagree don't talk about stats, talk about Raya as a keeper - and for many he's been found wanting and is certainly not an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale

RB: Ben White - 5/10 - The talented Mudyrk gave the defender a challenging afternoon - that was until ofrmer Spurs boss  Pochettino, now underachieving at Chelsea, amde the mistake of subbing him off on 66 minutes, thinking the game was won at 2-0. How wrong he was

CB: William Saliba - 5/10 - Not his best game after recovering from a toe problem that caused him to withdraw from French international duty, but his pace always carries the day

CB: Gabriel - 6/10 - Solid in the air and reliable on the deck

LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko - 4/10 - Booked early on which meant it was no surprise that Arteta hooked him at the break 

CM: Jorginho - 5/10 - Booed by Blues fans on his return to the Bridge, despite years of service. But then what do you expect from Chelsea fans

CM: Declan Rice - 7.5/10 - Never stopped working hard on and off the ball. Underlined what a class act he is when capitalising on Blues keeper Robert Sanchez's sloppy paass out from the back to finish in some style, to give Arsenal a foothold in the game, when none had previously looked to be forthcoming 

CM: Martin Odegaard: 5/10 - One of his quietest games in red and white as the play mostly passed him by in a breathless London derby 

RW: Bukayo Saka - 7.5/10 - Assist for Trossard's equaliser capped a hard-working display 

CF: Gabriel Jesus - 6/10 - Not his most influential game but gave his all for the cause 

LW: Gabriel Martinelli - 7/10 - Never stopps working hard down the left flank 

SUBSTITUTES:

SUB: Takehiro Tomiyasu: (45' for Zincheno) - 7/10

SUB: Emile Smith Rowe (68' for Jorginho) - 7/10 

SUB: Kai Havertz (78' for Odegaard) - 6/10

SUB: Leandro Trossard (78' for Martinelli) - 8/10

Subs not used: Karl Hein (GK), Jakub Kiwior, Thomas Partey, Reiss Nelson