Pedro Neto takes big step forward but Chelsea have Robert Sanchez decision to make after latest mistake | OneFootball

Chelsea showed they could compete in a big match without Cole Palmer on top form

Fifty-four million big ones may feel relative chump change in the world of Chelsea transfer spending, but it is easy to forget that Pedro Neto was the marquee signing of Enzo Maresca’s first summer in charge.

It has not been smooth sailing for the Portuguese winger since departing Wolves. For periods already this season he has found himself in the midweek ‘B’ string, a victim of Noni Madueke’s fine form on the right and Jadon Sancho’s bright start after his deadline day signing on the left.

Even now, the 24-year-old is playing out of his best position, with Madueke the incumbent on the right. Steadily, though, Neto’s influence is growing and this was his most significant contribution yet.

His goal was a beauty, arrowed low past the dive of David Raya and into the bottom corner from range. Crucially, it came moments after Maresca had sent on Mykhailo Mudryk for Madueke, allowing Neto to switch to his preferred flank. Arsenal switched off and were slow to recognise the new threat as he drifted infield onto Enzo Fernandez’s pass.

Neto should by that stage have had an assist, Malo Gusto somehow contriving to head a teasing cross over the bar from six yards, after Ben White had been made to jig.

That this display came on an afternoon when Cole Palmer was strangely off-key felt significant, too. Maresca is desperate for his side to ease their reliance on the playmaker, who missed the reverse fixture last season and watched his team-mates hammered 5-0. Here, in a pivotal moment of a showpiece game, Neto stepped up.

Pedro Neto delivered on a rare off-day for Cole Palmer

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Patience in Sanchez wearing thin

Maresca has not shirked the big decisions since taking charge at Chelsea. His first task after taking the job this summer was a ruthless cull of a bloated squad, with high profile players signed for fortunes among those to go.

Even here, as Arsenal welcomed their captain, Martin Odegaard, back, Maresca made the bold call to leave his own, Reece James, out of the side.

But in the case of Robert Sanchez, the Italian has been lenient, standing by the Spanish goalkeeper through a string of costly errors. Surely now, though, patience must be wearing thin.

Just as at Old Trafford seven days ago, Sanchez was at fault for the opposition goal in a 1-1 draw, then giving away a penalty with a rash lunge, and here offering Martinelli a most generous path to goal.

Latching onto Odegaard’s fine ball close to the byline, the angle ought to have been against the Brazilian, but instead he looked up to find an inviting gap at Sanchez’s near post and duly steered home.

Publicly, Maresca has been stout in his backing of the former Brighton man, but the international break may provide time for internal reflection, with Filip Jorgensen waiting in the wings.

Cucurella decision pays off

The decision to leave James out of the starting XI was one of the curvier balls delivered by Maresca this season, with the manager having played a largely settled side in the league.

In recent weeks, that has meant James playing out of position at left-back, with Gusto in form and in possession on the right.

Knowing Arsenal’s threat down that flank, though, Maresca decided that a specialist was needed here, recalling Marc Cucurella for his first league start in a month. The move paid off handsomely, as the Spaniard relished the latest episode in a long-running duel with Bukayo Saka, who was kept relatively quiet before being forced off injured late on.