Mikel Arteta put his hands up over his eyes and kept them there for a while before dragging his fingers down his face. The Arsenal manager could not bear to look; he was a case study in anguish. His new team had been 1-0 up – thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 13th-minute header –and, although the balance of the game had swung in Chelsea’s favour, there was not long left for them to hang on.

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Then it happened – one of those individual aberrations that have long blighted Arsenal, driving managers, players and supporters to distraction. Mason Mount’s deep free-kick from the left looked like easy pickings for the goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, only for him to misjudge its flight and miss his punch in darkly comic fashion. Jorginho, the Chelsea substitute, was able to tap into the empty net at the far post.

Should Jorginho have even been on the pitch? Already on a booking, he had flirted with another when he pulled back Matteo Guendouzi. The referee, Craig Pawson, gave him the benefit of the considerable doubt.

Arsenal being Arsenal, they promptly caved in and lost. Chelsea broke from the edge of their own area, with the substitute, Callum Hudson-Odoi, winning a vital header against Guendouzi, and when Willian crossed, Tammy Abraham outfoxed another substitute, Shkodran Mustafi; dipping his shoulder, spinning and firing low past Leno.

And so the first home game of Arteta’s managerial tenure fell apart. Arsenal remain in the bottom half and the broader picture shows that they have won only once in 12 Premier League games. Perhaps the biggest challenge Arteta faces is the rebooting of the collective mentality. Once again, the flaws were laid bare.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bernd Leno and David Luiz of Arsenal fail to clear a Chelsea cross, allowing Jorginho (left) to score for Chelsea at the back post. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Arteta’s despair was Frank Lampard’s joy. From the jaws of defeat, Chelsea snatched what was only a third win in eight league games to maintain their grip on fourth place. It would have been easy to imagine the inquest had they lost again but, although the equaliser was fortuitous, they deserved something for how they ended up controlling the game.

Chelsea had started badly and Lampard felt compelled to reconfigure from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3 after 33 minutes. He introduced Jorginho for Emerson, moved Fiyako Tomori to right-back and César Azpilicueta to left-back. He argued that the tactical approach had not been wrong; rather it was the attitude of his players. They were lethargic, to use his damning criticism. He needed to make a gesture in order to shake them up. That said, Arsenal had pinned back Chelsea, who lacked balance and urgency in midfield. Jorginho would help to provide that.

Arteta wanted energy: to him, it is the key to everything. He wanted to rediscover a connection with Arsenal’s supporters and Aubameyang’s goal provided the ideal building block. Mesut Özil’s corner was flicked on by Calum Chambers and Aubameyang twisted his body to direct a header past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

That told only half the story because, from a Chelsea point of view, it was a dreadful concession, yet another from a set piece. Tomori was beaten too easily in the air by Chambers and at no point did Emerson have a bead on the whereabouts of Aubameyang.

Arteta set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Özil showing his skill and range of passing in the No 10 role. He peeled towards the right to create overloads as Arteta initially targeted the flank guarded by Tomori and Emerson and there was plenty to offer encouragement. The home team, who lost Chambers to a serious-looking injury, might have had a second shortly after the opener only for Alexandre Lacazette to fail to kill a lovely Aubameyang layoff.

There was needle. David Luiz, the former Chelsea defender, rushed into a full-blooded clearance and left his boot high around the head of N’Golo Kanté; fortunately, there was no connection with his former teammate. David Luiz would be booked for leaving a foot in on Willian, while Chelsea picked up three yellow cards in almost as many minutes leading up to Jorginho’s introduction.

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Arteta’s problem was that his players could not sustain their physical levels. “We are asking them to do something different, to play at a different pace and be much more aggressive and, at the moment, they suffer,” he said. “It’s not that they were scared.”

Leno had denied Mount early on while Kurt Zouma miscued horribly at the far post on 38 minutes after a corner. Chelsea came on strong in the second half, showing greater fight and, as Arsenal defended deeper and deeper, the question was whether Lampard’s team could create and, crucially, convert something. Profligacy has been their enemy this season.

Lampard sent on Tariq Lamptey at right-back for his debut and the 19-year-old showed his fearlessness, with his best moment being a pass to play in Abraham. David Luiz got across to make a saving tackle, with Azpilicueta looping high on the second phase, while Abraham also missed a free header from a Willian corner.

It could have been different had the Arsenal substitute, Joe Willock, not flashed narrowly wide on 78 minutes when gloriously placed but Lampard could argue with some conviction that Chelsea had earned their luck for the equaliser. Abraham’s first goal in Chelsea colours against a big-six rival sparked wild scenes among the visiting fans.