Moises Caicedo gave Anthony Taylor no choice but to brandish the red card for a rash tackle on Mikel Merino after VAR called him to the monitor.
Despite being down to ten men, Chelsea took a surprise when James’ corner landed on the head of Trevoh Chalobah just after half time.
Speaking after the game, James, 25, believes his side made a ‘big statement’ following their performance at Stamford Bridge.
"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 said.
"I think everyone can see where we are and what we are fighting for. I think today was a big statement. Even though we wanted to win, there are lots of positives to take.
"We worked hard, there is a lot of analysis and hard work from the staff that sets us up in the right way and makes us play in the right way that he thinks will hurt them."
When asked about whether a red card felt inevitable, he added: "If you look at the amount of the yellows there were, I thought there was going to be one more red. It's a London derby, everyone wants to win this game.
"I'm proud of the boys. It was electric here today. We take a point and move forward."