Mikel Arteta praised Arsenal’s resilience after his injury-hit side battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Premier League leaders secured the point thanks to Mikel Merino’s 59th-minute header, coming after Chelsea had taken the lead through Trevoh Chalobah’s 48th-minute strike despite Moises Caicedo being sent off in the 38th minute.
Arteta highlighted the achievement given the circumstances, with key centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes sidelined for the first time this season. Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres were only fit for the bench, and Leandro Trossard also missed the match due to injury. Despite these challenges, Arsenal refused to bow under pressure after a physically and emotionally draining week that included a 4-1 victory over Tottenham and a Champions League win against Bayern Munich.
“It’s been a big week,” Arteta said. “The derby, how emotional and the necessity to win, then Bayern Munich. We lost players in those games. Today we had to play a partnership we haven’t played before in a really difficult match. The team had to react to that. It’s been a positive week because the difficulty was immense. But I have this flavour that today we should have won the game, and we haven’t.”
Arteta admitted that missing Saliba was a headache for his squad, stressing the importance of maintaining options in defence. “Saliba was unexpected. Today was a great learning match for all of us,” he added. With Arsenal now five points clear of Manchester City and six ahead of Chelsea, keeping key defenders fit is crucial as they chase their first English title since 2004. Saliba’s status will be assessed ahead of Wednesday’s game against Brentford.
Chelsea’s frustration with officiating
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca accepted Caicedo’s red card but voiced frustration over inconsistencies in refereeing. He questioned why Rodrigo Bentancur of Tottenham was not sent off for a similar challenge on Reece James in November. Maresca was also annoyed that Piero Hincapie’s elbow on Chalobah, which left the defender with a black eye, earned only a yellow card. On James, who played in central midfield despite injury issues, Maresca said: “The reality is no. We have a game on Wednesday, for Reece we need to manage him and control his situation.
By Yockshard Enyendi