Chelsea had Arsenal worried but it was the hosts who had the staying power in this early test of where Xabi Alonso’s side are up to and where progress must still be made.

Morgan Rogers netted after 77 seconds against the other club he could have joined from Aston Villa this summer, but that was as good as it got for Chelsea on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Emirates where they were beaten 2-1.

Kai Havertz — against his former club — and Martin Odegaard scored to turn the match on its head and remind Alonso and Chelsea that for all the promise they have shown in the early weeks of the season, it remains defending champions Arsenal who are closer to the finished product.

The first ‘big six’ clash of the Premier League campaign was always bound to give us an indication of how seriously talk of a potential Chelsea title challenge this season should be taken.

There was no lack of positive notes for Chelsea to take away with them on their travels back south of the river.

Among them was the confidence with which Rogers took that goal after just a minute and 17 seconds of play. And Pedro Neto hit the post while Estevao so nearly made it 2-2 by forcing a stunning David Raya save on 89 minutes — so chances were created and the Gunners were made to work in a high-intensity affair.

And yet Arsenal saw the bulk of the ball and did take control of the match in the second half.

Mikel Arteta had said that he believes Chelsea have shown they are capable of competing for the Premier League title this season. They look far better than last term and will be there or thereabouts, but genuine title challengers looked a slight exaggeration, at least on this evidence.

Of course it had to be Rogers to score Chelsea’s opener at breakneck speed.

The England man became Chelsea’s club-record signing for £117m this summer and it was considered a coup as much because Arsenal were believed to be halfway to signing him as because of the player’s quality.

The Gunners held long-standing interest in Rogers but dallied this summer, and it was Chelsea who acted decisively instead, wrapping up the deal as soon as Rogers and England had been knocked out of the World Cup by Argentina — and before they had even kicked off against France in the third-place play-off.

Arsenal loved Rogers, but Chelsea pulled the move off. It was a complex deal that took concerted effort from Chelsea’s five-strong team of sporting directors, as well as Xabi Alonso. Cole Palmer, who saw plenty of the ball at the Emirates but made no telling contribution, did his part, too, to convince his former Manchester City academy teammate to join Chelsea. He has said he sent numerous texts to Rogers, “persuading him to come”.

It looked to have paid off in the most satisfying way possible from a Chelsea perspective when Rogers gave them a lead after only one minute and 17 seconds, firing in a volley and hitting the Gunners with Thierry Henry’s old celebration by the corner flag.

“You should have signed for a big club,” Arsenal fans cheekily chanted after Rogers and Declan Rice had a coming together on 84 minutes.

Rogers was one of Chelsea’s brightest sparks at the Emirates, exchanging passes with Joao Pedro and almost reinstating the Blues’ lead before the break but curling wide. He could have quite conceivably been lining up for the other team if things had gone differently this summer.

Chelsea’s front three of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Rogers have caused problems for every team they have come up against so far this season, and they look particularly threatening when they seek to catch their opponents off-guard.

They did so again here, becoming the first side in history to score in the first five minutes of their opening three Premier League games, having also done so against Fulham on opening night and last weekend against Brighton.

It is sustaining that level of quality into the second half and through to the final whistle that evaded them against Arsenal as they met their match and failed to win for the first time in all competitions this term.