A goal by Romelu Lukaku in his second Chelsea appearance and a strike by defender Reece James have earned the Blues a 2-0 win at London rivals Arsenal on Monday (NZ time), their second victory in as many games at the start of the Premier League season.
Lukaku needed only 15 minutes to get off the mark for the Blues after his reported $US132.8 million ($NZ194.3m) transfer from Inter Milan, tapping in a cross played into his path by James.
The wing-back scored Chelsea's second goal himself 20 minutes later, taking his time to fire past goalkeeper Bernd Leno after being found in acres of space by Mason Mount.
Lukaku, who never scored a league goal for the Blues in his first spell, showed why Chelsea were prepared to break their spending record to bring him back to the club seven years after he left London.
The Belgian provided the Blues with the kind of muscular presence in attack they have lacked since the departure of Diego Costa in 2017, both when running at Arsenal's defence and holding the ball up with his back to goal.
Only a reflex save by Leno denied him a second goal when the German palmed Lukaku's point-blank header onto the bar with 15 minutes to play.
Arsenal, lacking several key players through injury and illness, rarely threatened to disrupt Thomas Tuchel's well-drilled side, who kept another of their trademark clean sheets and could afford to start with star names such as N'Golo Kante, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech on the bench.
Manchester United were given a reality check after last week's storming start to the season when they could only draw 1-1 at Southampton, after forward Mason Greenwood cancelled out an own goal by team mate Fred.
United began the campaign with a 5-1 home win over Leeds United last weekend but could not repeat that performance and were lucky not to lose to Ralph Hasenhuettl's organised and dynamic side.
Southampton took the lead on the half-hour mark after a bright spell, when Jack Stephens dispossessed Bruno Fernandes in the United half and the hosts swiftly moved the ball towards Che Adams, whose shot took a heavy deflection off Fred to squirm inside the near post and past David de Gea.
United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was convinced that Stephens had fouled Fernandes in the build-up to the goal but Hasenhuettl said he welcomed referees letting the game flow.
United defender Harry Maguire had hit the crossbar early on with a looping header, while Anthony Martial's rebound was scrambled off the line by Mohammed Salisu. But the half had belonged to Southampton, who swarmed over United with an aggressive high press and caused havoc down the right-hand side.
Solskjaer's side levelled early in the 55th minute, when Greenwood thumped a low shot under Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy, after clever interplay between Fernandes and Paul Pogba, who added another assist to the five he notched up against Leeds.
Earlier, Harry Kane came off the bench to make his first Tottenham Hotspur appearance of the season, as Dele Alli's penalty earned coach Nuno Espirito Santo a 1-0 win on his return to his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Kane, who has been linked with a move to champions Manchester City all summer, came on in the second half and missed a great chance to immediately get on the scoresheet.
Alli's ninth-minute penalty - his first league goal since March 2020 - was enough for Spurs to earn the win, as Nuno's first trip back to the club he brought up to the Premier League during a four-year spell between 2017 and 2021 ended successfully.
Reuters.
