The Arsenal machine found a new gear against Chelsea – that spells trouble for the rest

If this blistering match is to develop into the title race, Arsenal look much further ahead than their new three-point lead over Chelsea.

Xabi Alonso’s side had a spark and an energy that pushed the champions, but they didn’t really have a midfield, and that meant they didn’t have control, which brought Alonso’s first defeat. It is that control which marks Arsenal apart, after a 2-1 win that maintains their 100 per cent record after three games.

One of the main impressions from this victory was that Mikel Arteta’s side were more open and attacking than the Premier League has become accustomed to, with that largely influenced by how Chelsea came to have a go at them.

That is part of it, but there is something else, something that is a bit more ominous for the rest of the competition. The Arsenal machine is now so well oiled that it can move at a faster pace. The superb match-winning goal from Martin Odegaard was a fitting illustration of that, since the move was almost identical to his goal against Manchester City in the Community Shield.

That was obviously not off-the-cuff attacking. It was an intricately rehearsed move, every player knowing exactly which area to go into and at what moment.

The only surprising element of the match was the reason they needed a second goal, after Kai Havertz’s first. Arsenal had evidently been caught cold by Morgan Rogers’s 77-second opener. The machine hadn’t warmed up.

As an early set-piece was sent in, the defending was strangely half-hearted and disconnected, allowing Rogers to hook in the game’s first goal. Some of it could maybe be put down to Ezri Konsa adapting to his new teammates, but he also did that with admirable speed. By the second half, with Arsenal 2-1 up, he produced one brilliant challenge on Rogers to keep Chelsea in check and get the Emirates rocking.

“Very English,” Arteta laughed.

Rogers’s goal, which was the first Arsenal have conceded this season, may also have been the fuel Arsenal needed.

The next 50 minutes were one of their most complete displays. “The team reacted spectacularly,” Arteta said. “It was beautiful.”

They moved the ball around at speed to the point of gradually hemming Chelsea in. Alonso’s attackers ensured they always had a threat, but it was not like that which Emiliano Martinez endured at the other end.

Where Chelsea saw individual playmakers seeking to make something happen, Arsenal were all team movement and sudden interchanges.

The visitors might well complain that their hosts were a bit too energetic at times. Gabriel was fortunate that the officials did not judge his contact with Martinez’s head as an intentional kick. It might have been a hinge moment, given that it was 1-0 to Chelsea at the time.

There was an edge to the game, visible in the flare-ups. Cole Palmer and Declan Rice exchanged cynical fouls.

Another decisive moment came right at the end. Estevao emphasised just how much attacking power Chelsea have got by returning to proper action, and offering maybe their best moment of the entire game.

The Brazilian turned inside Piero Hincapie so easily, before swerving the ball towards the top corner. Diverting, however, was the soaring hand of David Raya. It looked like it could prove one of the saves of the season, compared to that against Brighton last season.

It was also one of many sure-handed moments from Raya. You can sense it any time he faces a free kick or corner. Chelsea’s set-piece coach Austin MacPhee was rising for everyone to try and generate energy. But amid that, Raya secured everything. He is unflappable.

And if it seems incongruous to dwell on a goalkeeper in a match of so much quality in play – where Christos Tzolis and Pedro Neto were exchanging pelting runs deep into the game – it is also symbolic of just how well Arsenal work.

Errors or flaws stand out all the more because they are so rare. Everything works so well, a long-term product of Arteta’s processes over six years.

That difference to Chelsea kept telling in this match, which is perhaps inevitable. Even the attack, so often criticised last season, looked to have moved up a level.

Odegaard is really on form. “His confidence is as high as I’ve seen, and he has a point to prove after last season,” Arteta said. “He gets to that point because he’s enjoying his football.”

It was not a coincidence that Arsenal did encounter difficulty for the first time in the game when Arteta took off the Norwegian and the other goalscorer, Havertz.

That perhaps reflects one big remaining issue, which has been a theme of the summer: the depth (or lack of) in attack. It may well cost them in the Champions League, if not in England.

Here, the attackers on the pitch illustrated another difference with Chelsea.

While Raya was so assured, Havertz arguably exposed Martinez’s propensity for error. He’s a fine goalkeeper with many qualities – even his abrasive personality becomes valuable – but he isn’t completely rock solid. Martinez probably should have done better for Havertz’s finish, good as it was.

Arteta also enthused about the German, pointing to how he “feels happy” and is in his best shape for a long time.

Alonso does have Chelsea in good shape, despite the shallowness in midfield. He insisted afterwards that Moisés Caicedo’s absence is just a caution after he came back too early last week. Alonso’s effect has otherwise been quick, and they have a lot of qualities – if not necessarily a defence. They have conceded seven goals in three games.

“This is for sure something we need to address,” Alonso said. “We need to be tighter, more clinical, more balance.”

In other words, like Arsenal.

Chelsea came up against a team who are inevitably so much more integrated, so much more intricately calibrated. And they aren’t alone in that.

Arsenal look a class apart from everyone in the Premier League.