It was Sarri’s men who looked the most likely to break the deadlock in a more scrappy second half, though, and they did just that with 81 minutes played, as Alonso finished with aplomb following fine work from substitute Hazard.
Marcos Alonso scored the decisive goal nine minutes from time as Chelsea shrugged off Arsenal’s fightback to secure a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge.
The full-back swept home Eden Hazard’s cross to make it two wins from two under Maurizio Sarri and keep the Gunners waiting for their first Premier League point under Unai Emery.
It was a particularly galling end to the game for the visitors, who had dragged themselves level before the break thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi, after Pedro and Alvaro Morata had put Chelsea two goals to the good.
Manchester City went ahead against the Gunners after 14 minutes last week, and Chelsea needed just nine to find the net, with Pedro finishing coolly from 12 yards after being teed up by Alonso.
It was 2-0 after 20 minutes when Morata turned away from Shkodran Mustafi and fired low past Petr Cech, just a minute after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, starting as the lone striker once more, had blazed over the crossbar with the goal gaping.
Mkhitaryan produced almost a carbon copy of Aubameyang’s miss but made amends with a fine left-footed strike to get the away side back into the game, and Iwobi thumped high into the net from the Armenia winger’s cross to level the scores before the break and leave the home crowd shell-shocked.
The Blues suddenly looked in disarray and could have been behind heading into half-time had Aubameyang and Iwobi been more accurate when finding space among a ragged Chelsea defence.
It was Sarri’s men who looked the most likely to break the deadlock in a more scrappy second half, though, and they did just that with 81 minutes played, as Alonso finished with aplomb following fine work from substitute Hazard.
FACT
The last Arsenal boss to lose their first two matches in charge was Steve Burtenshaw, who lost his first three as caretaker in March/April 1986.
His reign started with a 1-0 defeat by Tottenham and included consecutive defeats by Watford. The club ended the season with a 3-0 defeat to Oxford and a seventh place finish.
Burtenshaw, who played for Brighton, had been given the job following the resignation of Don Howe and his record included three wins, six losses and two draws. He also had spells at QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Everton and returned to Highbury under George Graham to work as the club’s chief scout.
In 1998 he was fined £7,500 by the Football Association and ordered to pay £2,500 costs after admitting misconduct at a hearing. Burtenshaw received £35,000 from football agent Rune Hauge following Danish midfielder John Jensen’s move from Brondby to Arsenal in 1992.
Arsenal, meanwhile, haven’t lost both of their first two games in a season since the 1992/93 campaign when Norwich and Blackburn beat them.
