Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits the effort turned in by his players surprised him for last night's draw at Chelsea.
Chelsea couldn't take advantage of David Luiz's dismissal - despite twice going ahead.
And Arteta declared: "I am [proud]. The spirit they showed, the character, the fight and the leadership was there as well. You have to really stand up. When someone makes a mistake, it can happen in football, so someone has to take a red card for him. It can happen.
"What cannot happen is that afterwards we don't stand up for him. Every single player did it with belief as well. I could sense it at half-time that they believed they could get back in the game. I wasn't expecting Hector to score with his left foot obviously, but I'm very pleased.
"I'm surprised as well. We're playing with a lot of young kids and what they've shown tonight is going to be a great experience for them, to keep believing that in football if you put everything in, anything can happen. In that sense, it's top."