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Arsenal and Chelsea took to the pitch to do battle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday in the International Champions Cup - and it was a share of the spoils with the tie ending 1-1 after 90 minutes. A penalty shootout ultimately crowned Arsenal as winners with Alex Iwobi scoring the winning penalty in sudden death.
With both teams welcoming new coaches in recent times, this pre-season has been arguably the most anticipated in each clubs' recent history.
Antonio Rudiger and Alexandre Lacazette grabbed the goals in normal time - with the former coming five minutes in while "Laca" netted mere seconds before the end in dramatic fashion.
The Gunners have new man Unai Emery in the dugout, while the Blues have Maurizio Sarri providing his own stamp on the club's history, but tactics took a back-seat as the match was decided in an exciting penalty shootout that saw 11 players convert.
#1 Chelsea fluid in attack
Rudiger's strike epitomised the difference between the two teams in the opening exchanges: while the north Londoners dictated possession for large spells, Sarri's troops were more clinical when they got into danger areas.
The Blues took the lead from as early as the fifth minute when Antonio Rudiger headed a corner into the back of the net - it was a powerful effort from the full-back that gave his side a platform to build on, and it was they who looked the better team on the offensive for much of the first half, although Arsenal did threaten on occasion.
Arsenal, on the other hand were wasteful in and around Chelsea's box- when Matteo Guendouzi was presented with a chance to level the scores approaching the half-hour mark, he drilled his effort wide of the mark.
For the Blues, they looked far more comfortable and inventive in possession and were willing to dink passes in over the top when necessary, something Sarri will be keen to see become more effective as his players become increasingly comfortable with his approach.
#2 Arsenal nervy at the back - but showed spirit to force comeback
With Alex Iwobi carrying the ball forward from deep, he found Henrikh Mkhitaryan in space, 35 yards from goal, but although he was in a good position to shoot he took his time and ultimately saw his right-footed effort take a slight deflection as it dribbled into Willy Caballero's grasp.
Before Lacazette's late, late equaliser, the best chance Arsenal had to break the deadlock arrived when they struck on the counter just after the restart when Tabby Abraham had been dispossessed on the edge of Cech's 18-yard box.
It was the same result moments later with Mkhitaryan once again as Caballero gobbled up the tame effort before redistributing the possession to his defenders.
Countless times, the Gunners found themselves controlling the ball, but appeared to have little option to distribute it into dangerous zones, and were sent packing back towards their goal or fullbacks.
Alexandre Lacazette could only pass the ball wide of the mark in the 75th minute, with the goal at his mercy following an excellent first touch. Alex Iwobi, introduced as a substitute, should also have converted in the closing stages only for Marcin Bulka to get down to spot just minutes after himself coming on as a replacement.
Credit Arsenal's fighting spirit, though: they kept on until the very end and Lacazette was in the right place at the right time to finally beat Bulka and force penalties.
#3 Sarriball taking effect already
Alvaro Morata, in particular, was instrumental to Chelsea's play. Everyone knows that influential deep-lying playmaker Jorginho is key to Sarri's philosophy, but there were plenty of signs on show that it won't all depend on the former Napoli midfielder.
The Spain international regularly dropped deep to collect the ball, allowing the midfielders an extra option to keep hold of possession, and he looked like a real live-wire throughout the contest.
He got involved in the midfield play, with Chelsea regularly engaging in some slick interchanges to bamboozle their Arsenal counterparts before spraying possession out wide or over the top - Sarri is a big fan of getting his players to move the ball swiftly and efficiently, and they did that for much of the opening half with relative ease.
Chelsea fans will expect a lot more from Morata this season, and he will need to be regularly among the goals if the Blues are to get anywhere near Manchester City in the 2018/19 season.
He had chances to rattle the net, too. In the tenth and 34th minutes, he produced a couple of lovely clever turns to produce a shot that had Arsenal fans' hearts in mouths, but neither was lethal enough to beat Cech.
His greatest chance, however, arrived in the 14th minute when his side were awarded a penalty and an opportunity to double their lead, but his finish wasn't up to scratch and Cech got down well to deny him with great reflexes. In many ways, it foreshadowed the fact the Blues would lose the dramatic penalty shootout.
#4 Emery can bring sustainability to Arsenal
But it might not turn out like that. Any talk of Emery's project with the Gunners being a long-term one, will not be music to Arsenal fans' ears considering Arsene Wenger's tenure ultimately became one of the most drawn-out projects in English football.
The draw was not the greatest result in the world, but the fans should remember that it is only pre-season, and so their often below-par display shouldn't worry too many die-hard supporters. Plus, they plucked up their courage in the closing stages and actually began to dominate in and around Chelsea's box as the match ebbed towards the final whistle.
The positives were that they did have chances to score, they looked livelier with Alexandre Lacazette and Alex Iwobi on the pitch.
However, the obvious negative was that it took them a long time to score.
It's not for nothing that Emery won so many trophies with Sevilla in Europe - given a little time he might produce something similar for the famous team in red-and-white. If this show of resilience and strength in the final 15 minutes is anything to go by, it could be the catalyst for Arsenal finally shaking off their nearly-men tag. But let's not get carried away just yet.
#5 17-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi a star in the making
The Blues no. 20 has blistering pace, and he put it to good effect throughout the International Champions Cup clash, giving Arsenal's defence a torrid time - it was he who earned the first penalty. Hudson -Odoi got in behind the cover many times and could have scored approaching the end of the opening half, but his effort was denied by a combination of Petr Cech and Shkodran Mustaf.
It wasn't just his sheer speed that caught the eye, either, as he looked composed when he cut in from the flanks or found himself through on goal, dribbling his way in meandering fashion through an often static Gunners rearguard.
He wasn't fortunate enough to get on the score-sheet in normal time, but if he gets regular minutes under Sarri (something the manager all but confirmed after the game), then the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Jorginho and company will have a pacy wide-lying target man to stroke deadly through-balls to.
Hudson-Odoi is certainly one to watch.
