Chelsea battled Arsenal to a point in a closely fought London Derby at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues had started the match well but suffered a setback when Moises Caicedo was dismissed before half-time. The Ecuadorian’s high challenge on Mikel Merino was upgraded to a red card after consultation with the VAR. Caicedo’s red card was one of six cards shown in the first 45 minutes.
Despite their men disadvantage, Chelsea took the lead just minutes after the break. Trevoh Chalobah tapped in an excellent inswinging corner from James to break the deadlock.
Arsenal hit back just before the end when Merino met Bukayo Saka’s cross and headed home. Arsenal had chances to take the lead, but a fine performance from Robert Sanchez kept the Gunners at bay.
Although Chelsea were forced to play with 10 men for more than half, James said his side were ‘disappointed’ not to take all three points. He added that the Blues can be proud of their performance against Arsenal, who have not lost in any competition since August.
James told Sky Sports: “Disappointing to come away with just one point. We went down to 10 men quite early in the game and that made it more difficult.”
“I think everyone can see where we stand and what we’re fighting for. I think today was a big statement. Even though we wanted to win, there are a lot of positives to take from it.”
“We’ve worked hard, there’s a lot of analysis and hard work from the staff setting us up in the right way and making us play in the right way that he thinks will hurt them.
“Arsenal have been at the top in recent years. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to play against them. Their midfield is strong, but we tried to play our game and hurt them from the ball.”
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