The report

Chelsea made a good start, as shown when Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein made the first of several excellent saves to deny Deivid Washington an early opener, palming the Brazilian’s header over the bar from Zain Silcott-Duberry’s corner.

We were grateful to our own keeper too, though, when Ted Sharman-Lowe dived at full stretch to brilliantly save Ethan Nwaneri’s penalty, awarded for a Leo Castledine challenge on Josh Nichols.

When the first goal did arrive, it was for Chelsea and Deivid Washington, as Zak Sturge’s low cross from the left evaded several bodies, allowing our striker to slot in confidently from eight yards out.

We had chances to extend that lead during an open first half, Castledine and Ronnie Stutter going closest, but Arsenal levelled before the break. Sharman-Lowe had done well to get a hand to Amario Cozier-Duberry’s initial effort, but could do nothing to stop Taylor Foran scoring from the rebound.

Two similar goals in 10 second-half minutes then did the damage, as some hesitant defending allowed first James Sweet and then Nwaneri to carry the ball into the box and score, before Nathan Butler-Oyedeji’s cut-back ricocheted in off the unlucky Sturge.

The Blues didn’t give up and Jimmy-Jay Morgan pulled one back late on, turning in from close range after Dylan Williams had done well to win possession high on the left side, but there was no time left to mount a comeback.

The reaction

Reflecting on the end of his team's 100 per cent league record in 2024, Under-21s head coach Mark Robinson was able to take some pleasure from the display of attacking football during the first half at Kingsmeadow, despite seeing it as a missed opportunity.

'It was a big game because we knew we could go above them in the league with a win,' said Robinson. 'The lads had been in really good form and it was our fifth game in 16 days, but we knew it’d have to be a high-energy performance.

'The first half was a terrific encounter. We were fantastic going forward, we were so exciting. I can’t deny it was a little bit open, and they had some chances as well, but we certainly had the clearer-cut chances, and a lot more of them.

'We should have gone in at least two goals to the good at half-time, but their goalkeeper also had an exceptional half, pulling off some great saves.'

However, with both teams looking to play a bit safer after the break, he admits Arsenal's second goal was the turning point, as we struggled to make the same impact on the game after falling behind.

'We talked to the boys about doing more of the same going forward, with just a little bit more security at the back, in terms of our structure behind the ball.

'At the start of the second half, Arsenal sat in a mid-block, which shows they felt they were likely to lose the game if they went toe-to-toe with us. We missed two chances early in the half, and then they got a goal against the run of play, through a good individual piece of play that we probably could have defended better.

'That seemed to knock the stuffing out of us. Although we continued to have chances after that, I have to say Arsenal were the better side from then on.'

That leaves Robinson with a clear idea of where we need to improve in order to bounce back in our next match.

'We need to look at why going behind had such a big effect on us. It may have had something to do with the fact that we had put so much energy into the performance to that point, and missed so many chances, but that is not an excuse and we need to assess that.

'For 60 minutes, there was so much about our play that was positive, so it would be stupid not to reflect on how good we were for that spell as we assess the game. On another day, we could have found ourselves two or three goals to the good.

'We haven’t lost many games recently and your defeats don’t define you, your actions after do. So we will be looking for a positive response moving forward.'

Chelsea Under-21s' first opportunity to produce that response will arrive when we travel to Newcastle United for our next Premier League 2 fixture on the evening of Friday 8 March.

The teams

Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal

Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Ted Sharman-Lowe; Brodi Hughes, Billy Gee (c), Dylan Williams; Zain Silcott-Duberry (Dujuan Richards 76), Michael Golding (Reiss Denny 76), Kiano Dyer, Zak Sturge (Ishe Samuels-Smith 88); Leo Castledine; Deivid Washington (Jimmy-Jay Morgan 76), Ronnie Stutter
Unused sub: Max Merrick
Scorers: Deivid Washington 22, Morgan 90+1
Booked: Sturge 20, Gee 86, Williams 90+5, Castledine 90+7

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Karl Hein; Josh Nichols (Henry Jeffcott 68), Taylor Foran, Ayden Heaven, James Sweet; Michal Rosiak, Jimi Gower; Amario Cozier-Duberry, Ethan Nwaneri (Ismael Kabia 77), Ismail M’Hand (Harrison Dudziak 88); Nathan Butler-Oyedeji
Unused subs: Ovie Ejeheri, Osman Kamara
Scorers: Foran 32, Sweet 54, Nwaneri 64, Butler-Oyedeji 84
Booked: Nwaneri 56, Nichols 66, Gower 80