- Safiu Kehinde
Another London derby ended in statement as 10-man Chelsea held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal had travelled to West London on Saturday for another English Premier League showdown against Chelsea.
Coming off an emphatic 3-1 win against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League during the week, the Mikel Areta-led side hoped to extend their winning streak against Chelsea who also cruised past Barcelona with 3-0 win on Tuesday.
This however proved difficult for the Premier League leaders as Chelsea matched up with Arsenal’s threat in a fierce contest which saw both teams picked up four yellow cards within 30 minutes of play.
Chelsea’s offensive play in search for goal would be dented in the 38th minute after Moise Caicedo’s nasty challenge on Arsenal’s Mikel Merino.
While the Ecuadorian had initially escaped severe punishment after being shown a yellow card, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervention however saw Anthony Taylor reversed his decision as he brandished Caicedo a red card, reducing Chelsea to 10 men.
The Blues managed to keep Arsenal at bay through the first half which ended in goalless draw.
As against spectators’ expectations, Chelsea resumed for the second half with sheer determination to upset Arsenal.
Barely three minutes into the game, the world champion sent the home fans reeling in jubilation as they found the back of the net courtesy Trevoh Chalobah’s 48th minute header from a corner kick.
Chelsea maintained the narrow lead until the 59th minute when Mikel Merino pulled a leveler as he headed home Bukayo Saka’s lob pass to bring the game to 1-1.
While Arsenal had substituted most of their players on yellow to picking a red, Enzo Maresca’s tactical substitution which saw him remove Estevao Williams for Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro for Liam Delp proved crucial for the home team as they suppressed Arsenal’s attacking threat.
Two brilliant save from Robert Sanchez also saw Chelsea maintained the 1-1 draw until the full-time whistle.
While Arsenal dominated the game with 62 percent ball possession as against Chelsea’s 38 percent, both teams however recorded four shots on target each.
The draw saw Arsenal falls two points short of increasing its gap against second-placed Manchester City by seven points.
Chelsea dropped third behind Manchester City with one point difference.