Arsenal ceded ground in the Premier League after drawing against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, though Mikel Arteta will be elated by his side's comeback from two goals down.
Despite toiling for much of the first half, the Gunners flaunted their title-winning credentials with a sensational late fightback, and at this stage of the campaign, Arteta will indeed be far more impressed with the mentality than the squandering of the joint-top spot.
However, the tense affair was littered with several subpar displays, and there will undoubtedly be some post-match discussions regarding the poor performances, with Oleksandr Zinchenko at the epicentre.
How did Oleksandr Zinchenko play against Chelsea?
The Ukrainian dynamo has been an important figure at the Emirates Stadium since signing from Manchester City in a £32m deal in 2022, though against the Blues, he had an evening to forget.
Hooked at half-time, the 26-year-old's technical qualities had been completely negated by the electric pace of Raheem Sterling, with BBC Sports' Raj Chohan remarking at the England international's "immense" dribbling.
According to Sofascore, Zinchenko produced the worst match rating of the night (6.2) and picked up a yellow card for his travails, recorded to have been dribbled past and committed an error leading to a shot.
Having only won one ground duel too, it truly was an awkward and forgettable affair on an individual level, having also taken 33 touches but failed to demonstrate his passing skills with anything of note.
While the 57-cap international was the notable struggler, captain Martin Odegaard, so often the spark of ingenuity and inspiration in decisive matches, was a shadow of his former self, subdued in the middle of the pitch.
How did Martin Odegaard perform vs Chelsea?
Declan Rice stole the show once again with his talismanic role in orchestrating the comeback having fallen two goals down after the break, but Odegaard really did endure a tough night.
As per FBref, the Norwegian phenom ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 2% for shot-creating actions, and the top 12% for progressive passes and progressive carries per 90, but he failed to live up to such superlative metrics in a heated London derby.
The £240k-per-week machine only took 35 touches during his 78 minutes on the pitch despite Arsenal controlling the lion's share of possession; comparatively, Enzo Fernandez took 73 in the opposite squad.
Odegaard also lost the ball on ten occasions, highlighting just how wasteful he was in possession.
And while the former Real Madrid prospect made two key passes, he couldn't muster a shot nor succeed with his one attempted dribble, also winning just one duel on the night despite his central placement, leading journalist Sam Dean to remark how "off it" he was.
In his post-match ratings, football.london's Kaya Kaynak was displeased with the captain's contribution, writing: 'A bad day at the office for the Norwegian who struggled to ever really got on the ball. On the rare occasions that he did there was a distinct lack of quality.'
The 5 foot 10 Odegaard has been absolutely integral to the Gunners' ascendancy over the past several years, proving to be the squad's creative fulcrum and inspiring leader since receiving the captaincy in July 2022.
But there's no denying that he was off the boil in west London, and Arteta will look to swiftly stamp out any tincture of poor form to serve the squad in the fight for the gleaming Premier League trophy.
