Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was pleased with a point at Chelsea to end an “immensely difficult” week.
After thrashing Tottenham in the north London derby and the Champions League win over Bayern Munich, Arsenal may have smelled more blood when Moises Caicedo was sent-off in the first half.
But Arsenal fell behind before Mikel Merino’s header earned a 1-1 draw which leaves the Gunners five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
“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 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.”
Arsenal started a Premier League match without either William Saliba or Gabriel in defence for the first time this season, while Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres came off the bench.
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.”
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