It was the highlight fixture of the weekend, and while Arsenal’s trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea ended 1–1, leaving both sets of fans disappointed their side didn’t pick up all three points, there was plenty of drama.
Chelsea were reduced to ten men in the 38th minute when Moises Caicedo saw red for a ludicrous challenge on Mikel Merino. The only question marks around this one is why Anthony Taylor saw fit to give him a measly yellow card before VAR intervened.
Despite the disadvantage, Chelsea took a shock lead, out Arsenaling Arsenal with Trevoh Chalobah nodding Reece James’ pinpoint corner beyond David Raya. Unfortunately for Enzo Maresca’s side, the lead didn’t last long.
Merino leveled things up 11 minutes later, and that’s how the game ended. So, here are three things we learned from a really interesting clash.
Is Reece James a midfielder after all?
Ahead of kick-off, this game was billed as Moises Caicedo vs Declan Rice. The Arsenal man came out the winner in that one (by default), but it was James who really starred in central midfield.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time Maresca played him in that role, he featured alongside Caicedo in Chelsea’s midweek 3-0 Champions League win over Barcelona, this may have been his best outing in that position, however.
With Caicedo gone, James filled in perfectly. The England international ended his night having created two chances, on 6/7 duels, and 5/6 aerial duels, along with the assist for Chalobah’s goal. It’s taken some time, but Maresca is starting to win the fans over with this decision.
A (kinda) missed chance for Mikel Arteta
The Spaniard was accused by pundits and fans alike of ‘playing with the hand break on’ in Arsenal’s games against rivals Liverpool and Man City earlier in the season, and that narrative is doing the rounds again after this one.
It was probably a little harsh after those two games, but Arsenal should have come away from this with all three points against ten men. Instead, Chelsea were arguably the better side, despite being missing a man for the best part of an hour.
Still, we doubt Areta will be struggling to sleep tonight with his side sitting top of the Premier League table, five points ahead of second placed Man City. He’ll just need to make sure this isn’t one of those games Arsenal look back at with disappointment at the end of the season.
Robert Sanchez deserves his flowers
Sanchez hasn’t exactly been a fan favourite since he joined Chelsea from Brighton back in 2023. Several shaky performances and a few high-profile errors had many writing the ‘keeper off, he’s now starting to prove them wrong for doing so.
The Spaniard was incredible against Arsenal, keeping Chelsea in the game at times. A reflex save from Gabriel Martinelli’s low strike just before half time was a highlight, but his double save late on that saw his get a kick from Viktor Gyokeres was probably Sanchez’s best moment.
Chelsea have so far resisted the urge to sign a new goalkeeper, refusing to meet AC Milan’s £25 million valuation of Mike Maignan in the summer, and that seems to have given Sanchez plenty of confidence, and he’s repaying that faith tenfold at the moment.