Arsenal’s gritty draw at Stamford Bridge tests Arteta’s resolve

Match Report

Spanish coach Mikel Arteta said tonight's Chelsea match was tough, marked by intensity and physical power from the opening moments.

Arsenal earned a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, in a bruising 13th-round clash of the Premier League.

In-Depth Reflections

From the start, you could feel how important the game was. Every challenge and movement carried intensity, with brief, tense sequences. With Caicedo's red card and playing with ten men, we expected a different kind of battle; we prepared for the second half, and they earned a free kick and scored, making it very tough.

Arteta added: 'Overall, when you don’t win with ten players for 45 minutes, you should feel disappointed, but you know the week we’ve had; Chelsea are a tough opponent.'

He continued: 'The match was extremely tough, Chelsea have many experienced players with strong personalities who know what they’re doing and who they target; we had two clear chances to score but couldn’t convert.'

He went on: 'I can’t find the right words; I’m very disappointed not to take all three points with ten men, but given everything that happened this week, I’m very proud of what the team produced.'

He added: 'The game was really hard, two teams playing fiercely and aggressively; you could feel it in every challenge. The game settled after the red card; we needed to calm down and make the right calls, but we conceded a mistake and a goal.'

'We had four players booked; it was clear they were targeted. In the opening move of the second half we conceded again, but we also produced a brilliant goal and had two or three dangerous chances. They are a very good side; they scored seven from set-pieces while we scored eight.'

He concluded: 'It has been an incredibly tough week mentally and physically; we have another game on Wednesday and must be ready to beat a strong Brentford side, then Aston Villa.'

Punchline 1: Tonight's game had more twists than my morning coffee—without the cream.

Punchline 2: If football were a quiz show, Arsenal would have used all lifelines and still walked away with a 1-1 tie.