Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge after a frantic and controversial match in which Chelsea finished with ten players. The first half set the tone with a rapid series of bookings and major VAR decisions before both sides pushed for a winner in a tense second half.
First Half: Three Early Bookings and Two Chelsea Red Cards
There were three yellow cards inside the opening 12 minutes. Zubimendi was booked in the 5th minute, Cucurella followed in the 10th for a foul on Saka, and Mosquera became the third booking on 12 minutes. Saka had already tested Sánchez with a strike on target.
Both teams played at high tempo, with the match becoming end to end by the 15 minute mark. Chelsea’s 18 year old Estêvão had efforts over and wide in the 17th and 18th minutes, while Arsenal’s Calafiori was booked on 27 minutes.
A mistake from Hincapié on 28 minutes allowed Chelsea through in the six yard box before Arsenal cleared. Enzo Fernández then forced Raya into a save with a shot on target at 31 minutes.
At 34 minutes Merino and Caicedo both went down after a challenge. Following an on-field VAR review, Caicedo was sent off for excessive force. Hincapié was later booked at 40 minutes. Arsenal created late chances, including a Martinelli shot on target, but Chelsea defended well and the half ended goalless.
Second Half: Chelsea Strike First Before Merino Levels
At half time Arsenal brought on Myles Lewis-Skelly for Calafiori, while Chelsea introduced Garnacho for Estêvão. Chelsea created the first big moment of the half with a João Pedro header that Raya saved before Chalobah scored from the resulting corner in the 47th minute. Chelsea led 1-0 with ten men.
Arsenal responded with pressure and made further changes. Madueke replaced Martinelli and Ødegaard came on for Zubimendi in the 57th minute. The breakthrough arrived on 58 minutes when Merino headed in from a Saka delivery to make it 1-1.
The match remained open. Rice cleared a Chelsea corner on 56 minutes, Saka sent a cross on target at 73 minutes, and Delap forced a save from Raya on 77 minutes. Arsenal continued to search for a winner, but Sánchez claimed a series of crosses and Chelsea threatened on the break. Gyökeres was booked on 87 minutes after challenging Sánchez for a loose ball.
Four minutes were added. Merino headed over in the 93rd minute, and the match ended 1-1.
Arsenal took a point against a Chelsea side who defended strongly despite playing with ten men for most of the match.
I really thought Arteta could mastermind a breakthrough in the second half, with Chelsea down to 10 men, but I don’t know. To me we didn’t seem overly joined-up tonight.
Were we hoping for too much after fantastic wins against Tottenham and Bayern Munich with the last week?
Let’s discuss in the comments.
Michelle M
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In my honest opinion, I felt we were poor today.
The players seems to be suffering from a post NLD and CL hangover where they put in two immense performances. Today’s performance was anything but.
I felt we were very shaky at the back – esp in the first half when plenty of passes were going astray, and even Raya’s kicking was sub-standard.
We seemed to liven up in the second half when the subs came on – once again showing what our squad depth and healthy competition for places can give us. In all, id say that was 2 points dropped.
We now need to get back to picking up 3 points cos the pack behind us arent too far away and there’s still a very long way to go.
Sh1t performance
Good point all things considered
Onto the next .
Chelshit youngsters are growing and learning fast .
We need to take full advantage of their immaturity before next season.
How good was James
Ever since Maresca took over, Chelsea isn’t the same. Rather than think of them as being immature, they are actually a more serious challenge than the rest of the pack.
What they did against Barca last week wasn’t accidental. Remember how they performed in the last summer …… the same youngsters we want to believe are immature.
Didn’t see a lot of the game because I kept losing connection but I think we missed our usual CB partnership. Didn’t realise Eze was playing and we needed more penetration up front. I do know there wasn’t two Chelsea red cards though😊.
Not our best performance lol
Very disappointed especially with Chelsea red card
However, it could have been worse.
Anyway, its not uncommon for title contenders to have a poor performance once in a while.
Also our loss was against Liverpool and draws against City, Chelsea and Sunderland. All good sides
Also we are still 5 points ahead at the top. We can still build on that
Let’s focus on the the next match
COYG
Has as been said, poor performance but it happens. Came away with a hard fought point against 10 men, which is disappointing. We we far too SLOW moving the ball forwards (which seems a theme under Arteta) but we didn’t lose. Its just a game we should have done better and there are no excuses. Some of our football was atrocious and lacked quality. Martinelli, Eze and Zubimendi were invisible.
I agree Reggie. It happens sometimes. It was a scruffy encounter and a point gained in the end. Chelsea aren’t mugs, either and it’s not realistic to expect to waltz through every match
A draw in a big game away from home isn’t the worst result but we should have taken full advantage of our numerical advantage.
Anyway we still have a 5 point advantage which is not so bad at this stage of the season.
The referee made the match about himself and destroyed the flow of the match with his endless whistle blowing and distribution of cards … The match was not that intense but he made it look as if it was….a very poor officiating that kills the flow of the match for both teams
We can’t blame the reff
Two weeks in a row big decisions went our way
Not saying the ref favor one team over the other during the match all I’m saying is that he destroyed the flow of the match for both team with him losing the control of the match so early.. it’s a big match and he could have done better
It was a tricky call for the ref, I thought. Cucurella was immediately all over (literally) Saka and wasn’t given a card. That sent a green light and before you knew it, we got 2 yellows and it was tit for tat after that. He did eventually but I felt that set the tone and it was a miracle that only one got sent off, although the sheer number of yellows stunted the game.
Are you for real?
What did you expect the referee to do when tackles were flying in from the first couple of minutes.
“The match was not that intense” – what are you comparing it with, WWE?!
Reply to Junking!!
@Ken1945 I may not be able to explain my opinion much better for you to understand because English is not my first language but I know early yellow cards within the space of minutes brought about the unnecessary intensity… We’ve seen referee call the captains of teams in a high profile matches to calm tensions at the beginning of the games once he sense emotions are flying among players… Such a move not just only restore order in matches but gives control back to the ref during the game… I can bet it with you that both fans did not enjoy watching the match not just only Arsenal fans. A six yellow card to a team is as worst as a red card which will definitely made such team not to even attempt tackling again throughout the match .. before this match there was no bad blood between both team players unlike some of our players vs some Manchester city’s players and yet we still enjoy that match because the referee control the game with calmness from the start…. You can’t just come into a game and all you do is dishing out yellows at the very early minutes of game to both teams and expect a good game… Caution came first to calm players and that’s why you see referee dish out more cards at the second halfs of matches than first.
I completely take your point. I’ve been banging on about Cucurella because early in the game he should have got a card and didn’t. My view is that if Taylor had stamped his authority at that point we could well have had a better game and one that didn’t have cards being dished out right, left and centre. By then the horse had bolted
SueP,
Is it just me, or is Cucurella the most dislikeable left back in the premier league?. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
DEREK, I wouldn’t disagree, Cucarella doesn’t just look a d*ck, he acts like one, but Spense, good as he is, often comes across as pretty unlikable, unless he saves it up just for us.
I would imagine that defenders don’t look to win any popularity contests though.
I know Hincapie came close to a red card, but Flossy should have had a second yellow card, Derek. He’s a nuisance but also effective
@Suep you’re right 💯
Apart from a couple of linesmen’s wrong calls, I thought the officials were very good. Taylor hasn’t always been our best friend, but he couldn’t let the fouls go unchecked, so he had to keep stopping play.
‘ Not overly joined up ‘, pretty much describes the way we played as well as how we were set out to play. It was a hard watch. I don’t know why Arteta believed that Merino and Gyokeres could play together at a time when we needed more intensity. These two players can be ghost like in their ability to have minimal impact. Also Saka must have got a knock on the head after setting up Merino’s goal. One silly decision after another. Can again see the fickle finger of blame pointed at Martinelli. Not entirely his fault he couldn’t get much of the ball when so much of our play was focused on passing it backwards. I doubt if Trossard would have caused their defenders more problems. Rather than blame individual players we could say that this game was down to the gaffer and his team not quite getting it right.
Saka not a big occasion player nowadays. Over rated. Too selfish. One eye on the contract.
Arteta needs to change his attitude toward Nordgaard to play him now because Zubimendi is struggling to adapt to the physicality of epl.
Skelly hit rock bottom, his facial expressions speak volumes. Don’t mind if he is loaned out.
Really don’t knowwhats happened to MLS, i am a big admirer but for some reason, he looks to be frightened to do anything. He looks like he has no confidence at all.
Can I just say that as disappointing as it is to not get the 3 points, can we not at least acknowledge that Chelsea were actually the better team today.
Even with 10 men you wouldn’t have thought it, by the way that they played. For me they deserve respect for their performance regardless of our shortcomings on the day.
And I’ll keep on saying it, from the start of the season they’ve always been my dark horses. I hope I’m wrong, but from our side we must keep focused.