Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal side at the end of an “immensely difficult” week after they drew 1-1 with 10-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners started a Premier League match with neither William Saliba nor Gabriel in defence for the first time this season, Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres only fit enough for the bench and Leandro Trossard injured, they had to come from a goal down to take a point that put them five clear at the top of the table.
The sending-off of Moises Caicedo in the first half for a studs-up tackle on the ankle of Mikel Merino seemed to leave the match there for the taking, but after Trevoh Chalobah headed Arsenal in front, there was a sense of relief that the leaders had survived with a point thanks to Merino’s leveller.
Despite playing against 10 men for almost an hour, Arteta reflected instead on what his side had achieved in the previous seven days after thrashing Tottenham in the north London derby and the Champions League win over Bayern Munich.
“It’s been a big week,” he 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 captain is still not here, the nine is not here, Kai (Havertz) is not here, we lost Leo.
“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.”
Saliba was missing after receiving a knock in training and will be assessed again ahead of Wednesday’s game against Brentford, whilst Gabriel is set for a longer lay-off.
“It’s been a headache because we have to have a lot of option and changes in the last few months,” said Arteta. “This (Saliba’s absence) was unexpected. Today was a great learning match for all of us.”
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca accepted the dismissal of Caicedo but questioned why Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur had not been sent off for a similar challenge on Reece James when the teams met earlier in November.
There was also what looked to be an elbow from Piero Hincapie on Chalobah that left the Chelsea defender’s face bloodied but brought only a yellow card.
“Moises is a red card, but why Bentancur against Reece was not?” said Maresca. “As managers we try to understand why they judge in different ways. We struggle to understand.
“Trev one, I asked the referee, he said it was not an elbow. They judge in different ways. He has a black eye, he was with ice at half-time.”
James was outstanding in the centre of midfield but when asked if he will be able to play on Wednesday at Leeds, Maresca said: “The reality is no.
“We have a game on Wednesday, for Reece we need to manage him and control his situation.”
