Chelsea vs Arsenal live: Gunners held to draw against 10-men Blues at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal: Merino cancelled out Chalobah’s opener as points shared
Arsenal failed to take full advantage of Chelsea being reduced to 10-men in their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge as they were held to a 1-1 draw.
The Gunners, looking to extend their lead over Man City to seven points, were outplayed in the first half despite a couple of decent chances for Bukayo Saka.
Chelsea were playing with a confident physicality and that was epitomised by Moises Caicedo’s lunging tackle on Mikel Merino. He timed the challenge slightly wrong and landed on the forward’s ankle earning himself a red card after a VAR review.
Instead of retreating after the break Chelsea took the game to Arsenal and went ahead through Trevoh Chalobah’s headed effort piling a mountain of pressure on the league leaders.
Merino limited the damage with a header of his own but Arsenal will come away knowing they’ve let two points slip at Stamford Bridge.
Relive the updates from Stamford Bridge below:
Enzo Maresca’s simple rallying message shows Chelsea have learnt from previous setbacks
At half-time, shortly after Moises Caicedo had gone for a justified red card, Enzo Maresca had a single simple message for his Chelsea squad.
“We need to double the effort.”
They did that, and very much matched Arsenal’s extra man in an intensive 1-1 draw, but also multiplied their effectiveness with 10 players on the pitch.
Maresca’s simple rallying message shows Chelsea have learnt from previous setbacks
Enzo Maresca on the red card
The Chelsea manager said: "I think he red card is the red card. I struggle to understand the different ways to judge. What about Bentancur to Reece? Why is one a red card and one isn't? I think it's a red card tonight, it's clear. Why the difference? Is what it is.
"Moises is always the same way. Top player for us. The desire from him is to try and win the game.
"It's football. It's between Chelsea and Arsenal.
"You have to double the effort, that is the most important thing. We didn't change a lot on the ball. We tried to go to Liam. In open play, the idea was exactly the same.
"I think we are better than last season. We are closer. We'll see where we are in February and March and then we'll assess our target.”
Should Arsenal have won?
Arsenal failed to win a Premier League game in which their opponents received a first-half red card for the first time since August 2010 against Liverpool, a 1-1 draw with Joe Cole sent off.
Not a great performance from Arsenal
Arsenal managed just eight shots, their fewest in a Premier League game since October 2024 at Bournemouth.
Meanwhile Chelsea had 11 shots, the most Arsenal have faced in a Premier League game since the opening day against Manchester United.
More from Arteta
The Arsenal boss added: "It's very tricky. They have a lot of experienced players with big personalities. They know what they are doing and who to target. We have to play all those within the game. In the end we scored, we had two massive chances as well to score and we didn't.
"I don't know the right words because I'm disappointed obviously with not getting the three points against 10 men. But with everything that happened in the week, I think overall I just have to be very proud of what the team has done."
Post match thoughts from Enzo Fernandez
The Chelsea midfielder said: "I think we showed we are heading in the right direction. I always say the same. The performance has been fantastic. We were a much better team than them 11 v 11 but with 10 players, it is difficult but we dealt with it outstandingly.
"11 v 11, we were better than them. We tried to exploit the best solution, the best space. We knew the space was for Malo and Estevao on that side. Tonight we can be happy even if we didn't win.”
Arteta sums up the game
"A really tough one. Two teams that play with a lot of intensity and aggression, you could sense it in every tackle,” Mikel Arteta assessed after the game.
“The game settled and after the red card, we needed to settle and make the judgement but we conceded a foul and a goal. Two top teams fighting for the Premier League so it's normal.
"We had four players with yellow cards and you could see they were targeting those players. The first action in the section half, we conceded and we had to get through that. We scored a brilliant goal. We had two or three big chances.
"They are a really good team. They've scored seven goals from corners, we've scored eight.”
Merino on handling Stamford Bridge atmosphere
More from Merino who spoke to Match of the Day.
He said: "It's a London derby so it's always passionate. The red card tackle was harsh and a really tough one. What you expect in this league and what you expect in this ground, this is a grown up game and you've got to step up in this game.
"It's been a massive week for us. We showed a lot of character, a lot of good resilience during this week with the short amount of time for recovery.
“Every player has been amazing and hopefully we can extend that to the rest of the season."
Merino on scoring from crosses
"It's something we train every day and try to position ourselves on the blind side of the defenders,” Merino explained when asked why Arsenal are strong when crossing the ball.
“When you train with each other every day, you know your strengths and weaknesses.
"This is the Premier League. It's very strong and it's why you see so many transitions.
“If you win a duel, then you can attack the box."
Merino on Caicedo's challenge
Mikel Merino was the player on the receiving end of Caicedo’s red card challenge and he explained how it felt.
"I felt my ankle go all the way but luckily I have very mobile ankles and body,” he explained.
“I wasn’t concerned about myself. I knew it was a horrible challenge and it was going to be a red card.”
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