Bellerin goes from zero to hero and saves Arsenal’s day

The ‘xg’ – expected goals – for this encounter would have been extraordinary. Five-all? It was entirely possible as there were so many clear-cut chances traded in this capital clash.

There were thrills, spills and, afterwards, inevitable bellyaches with an edgy Arsene Wenger renewing his war on refereeing after an amazing draw that was an incredible advert for the Premier League. It was also an indictment as to why neither of these two teams will win the title this season.

There was controversy, as there always is, with Jack Wilshere claiming his first league goal since May 2015 – a superbly determined strike to open the scoring – after he probably should have been sent off when appearing to dive in attempting to earn a free-kick on the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area, as he anticipated a challenge from Andreas Christensen. He had already been booked for a foul on Cesc Fabregas.

Meanwhile, Arsenal raged at the penalty award that drew Chelsea level, just four minutes after Wilshere’s goal, when Hector Bellerin was judged to have fouled the other No10 – Eden Hazard – as they vied to reach a loose ball.

Having expressed his anger at the penalty given against Arsenal in the draw away to West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Eve, Wenger was at it again. The Arsenal manager had a case then, though badly expressed, but not so much here.

Bellerin clearly kicked Hazard’s foot. It was a penalty – maybe the only possible accusation against Hazard is that he exaggerated his fall – and Wenger needs to drop his conspiracy theories.

If sport at the highest level is about fine margins, then it was caught in the 90 minutes of this full-throttle match. Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata could have had a hattrick, missing three one-on-ones that a forward of his calibre should have finished. It is hard to imagine Diego Costa, who opened his account for his new club, Atletico Madrid, as this game was being played, spurning them.

Then, after Bellerin’s 92nd-minute equaliser, cancelling out Marcos Alonso’s goal following yet more appalling Arsenal defending, Chelsea should still have won it when Morata erred for the third and final time. Even then the ball broke to substitute Davide Zappacosta, who thumped his half-volley against the crossbar.

The wing-back should have scored but so should many other players. Both goalkeepers were outstanding, making a string of improbable saves, to add to the misses, with maybe the pick of them being a brilliant one-handed stop by Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois to turn away a poked shot by Alexis Sanchez. Even then the ball struck one post and then ran across the goal-line, rebounding off the other before Courtois eagerly grabbed it.

It means that Arsenal remain frustratingly in sixth place while Chelsea, in third, missed the opportunity to leapfrog Manchester United and return to second spot.

Chelsea will – marginally – be the happier, with Arsenal five points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool. Given the absentees in their back line it was, evidently, and maybe as ever with Wenger, a case of attack being the best form of defence.

But it meant they were as chronically vulnerable to conceding as they were likely to score. The fact it remained goalless at half-time was the biggest surprise, given how both sides simply went for it. And made mistakes.

Morata missed the easiest of his chances early on. He was allowed to run onto a hopeful long ball by Victor Moses, which Shkodran Mustafi completely misjudged and Calum Chambers left, both believing it would run through to Petr Cech, only for Morata to collect.

But Morata got his angles horribly wrong as he side-footed the ball wide. It was then end to end and back again. The xg – the new measure used by statisticians to show how many goals should have been scored – went through the roof.

Arsenal claimed a penalty, arguing Moses had clipped the heels of Ainsley Maitland-niles. Courtois denied Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette, and was relieved to see Mesut Ozil’s shot drift narrowly wide. At the other end, Cech pushed Tiemoue Bakayoko’s shot over the bar and Fabregas side-footed wildly over from Hazard’s clever backheel.

There was no let-up. If anything it became more intense. Cech denied Hazard, with an outstretched leg, and then turned away Alonso’s header before Courtois was again called into action, thwarting Lacazette from close range.

He was finally beaten. The breakthrough came and the Emirates erupted as Rob Holding’s first-time pass rebounded off the hapless Morata to Wilshere, who had instigated the move, with the midfielder’s powerful, rising first-time effort cannoning off Courtois’ near post and into the net. They pressed on and only another save from Courtois denied Lacazette.

Would Wilshere grab the headlines? Hazard did not allow it. He won the penalty and dispatched it, steering the ball to Cech’s right as the goalkeeper dived left. The momentum swung.

Morata missed again, lifting the ball over when through on goal before Zappacosta easily beat Maitland-niles down the right and fired in a cross. Alonso stole in ahead of the dozing Mustafi and turned it home, right-footed.

The mood shifted. Would it be another game of recrimination for Arsenal? To their credit, they responded valiantly. The pressure built and Bellerin latched onto Alonso’s clearing header to steer a crisp half-volley beyond Courtois’ grasp. Honours even? Zappacosta should have won it but did not.

It was a fair result, even if Wenger cried foul, again.