Chelsea held Premier League leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in a tense London derby at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The match took a dramatic turn in the 38th minute when Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo was shown a red card after a VAR review for a reckless tackle on Mikel Merino. Despite being reduced in numbers, Chelsea came out strong after the interval.
Shortly after the restart, Trevoh Chalobah rose to meet a pin-point corner from captain Reece James and nodded home to put Chelsea ahead.
Arsenal responded in the 59th minute. Merino connected with a deep cross from Bukayo Saka to level the score with a firm header.
Even with the extra man, Arsenal couldn’t find a winner. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez made several key saves in the dying minutes to deny late chances from Merino and Martin Ødegaard and preserve the draw.
After the final whistle Chelsea captain Reece James said, “Disappointing to come away with only one point. We went down to 10 men pretty early in the game and that made it more difficult.” He added the team had “soaked up the pressure and countered” well under tough conditions.
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