Arsenal came from behind against 10-man Chelsea to secure a point and extend their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions.
Chelsea and Arsenal played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the Gunners keeping their unbeaten run against their London rivals going.
It’s now eight Premier League games without a defeat against Chelsea following Mikel Merino’s equaliser, but with Moisés Caicedo sent off after just 38 minutes, Mikel Arteta may see it as a great opportunity missed.
A win for the Gunners would have seen them head into the midweek fixtures with a seven-point lead at the top of the table, but in the end they had to battle back from a goal down after 10-man Chelsea took a surprise lead early in the second half via Trevoh Chalobah.
With Gabriel Magalhães already ruled out with injury, Arsenal suffered a huge blow with the unexpected absence of his centre-back partner William Saliba following a training ground injury.
This was just the second time in 162 league matches that Arsenal had started a game without either of their first-choice central defenders. Even then, that game was in a final-day dead rubber last season versus a Southampton team that won only 12 points (which Arsenal won 2-1). Summer signings Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié were tasked with replacing them.
Estêvão has made a big impact for Chelsea since signing from Palmeiras in the summer, no more than in the recent 3-0 win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League. Only eight players aged under 19 have ever scored a Premier League goal against Arsenal, and 18-year-old had a great chance to add his name to the list in the 18th minute of this match. Compatriot João Pedro’s low cross deflected into his path before he blasted over when well-placed centrally in the box.
Despite starting strong, Chelsea suffered a huge blow when influential midfielder Caicedo was dismissed in the 38th minute following a reckless tackle on Merino. Originally given a yellow card, it was upgraded to a red following VAR intervention. In truth, a red card in this match came as little surprise considering the combative nature of the first half. There had already been four yellows given up by Anthony Taylor before Caicedo’s red (three for Arsenal, one for Chelsea).
Although it was It was the Ecuadorian’s first red card in 130 Premier League appearances, it was yet another example of the ill-discipline that has dogged Chelsea in recent seasons. Since the start of 2023-24, the Blues have been given both the most yellow cards (229) and two more red cards (10) than any other team in the Premier League. They have already received four red cards across their 13 Premier League games this season – last receiving more in a single campaign in the competition in 2015-16 (five).
The Gunners nearly made their one-man advantage count on the eve of half-time when they launched a counter-attack and Gabriel Martinelli was fed the ball on the edge of the box, but his strike was brilliantly saved by Robert Sánchez down low to his right to keep the game goalless.
Despite being a man down, Chelsea opened the scoring just two minutes into the second half – the eighth successive Premier League game that they’d scored first in.
Reece James’s excellent inswinging corner found the head of Chalobah, who just beat Declan Rice to the ball and saw it nestle inside the post to make it 1-0. It was the English defender’s third Premier League goal of the season, all coming via corner situations, with only Arsenal (8) scoring more often from corners this season in the competition than the Blues (7).
Chelsea Corner Goals in 2025-26 Premier League
Arsenal took just 11 minutes to equalise, and it came via the trusty head of Merino. Fantastic work from Bukayo Saka on the right wing saw him dig out a wicked cross into the box where the Spanish midfielder met it with a powerful header past Sánchez. Six of his nine Premier League goals for the Gunners have come via headers, with only Chris Wood (8) scoring more in the competition since the start of last season.
Mikel Merino Premier League Goals for Arsenal
There would be no further goals, with a draw arguably the fair result in a match that looked like spiralling out of control following a chaotic first half that witnessed five yellows and a red card.
Following this weekend’s action, coupled with Manchester City’s dramatic late win over Leeds yesterday, Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League table has reduced from seven points to five, but after Chelsea had gone a goal ahead it’ll feel like a good point won for the Gunners, even though they played against 10 men for over 50 minutes.
For Chelsea, they remain in the hunt for the title with a six-point gap between themselves and Arsenal but will rue an opportunity missed after starting well against a side missing key defenders before their ill-discipline stifled their ability to stun the league leaders in front of their own fans.
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal Stats Momentum Opta
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Chelsea vs Arsenal stats from their Premier League meeting at Stamford Bridge on 30 November 2025.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal Post-Match Facts
Chelsea are unbeaten in each of their last nine Premier League London derbies (W5 D4), their longest run under the same manager since their first nine derby matches of José Mourinho’s second spell in 2013-14.
Arsenal managed just eight shots in today’s draw (7 after the red card), their fewest in a Premier League game since October 2024 at Bournemouth (6). Meanwhile the Gunners faced 10+ shots (11 today) for only the second time in the league this season, along with MD1 against Manchester United (22).
Arsenal failed to win a Premier League game in which their opponents received a first half red card for the first time since August 2010 against Liverpool, a 1-1 draw with Joe Cole sent off for the Reds.
Mikel Merino is Arsenal’s joint-top scorer in the Premier League in 2025 with eight goals, five of which have come with his head – the Spaniard has the joint-most headed goals in the competition this calendar year alongside Kevin Schade.
Trevoh Chalobah scored his 10th Premier League goal, with half of those coming as headers from corners – it was his fourth in a London derby for Chelsea, with John Terry (13), Dan Petrescu (7) and William Gallas (5) the only defenders to net more derby goals for the Blues in the competition.
Chelsea have received four red cards in 13 league games this season, twice as many as any other team – it is the earliest into a Premier League campaign the Blues have had four players dismissed.
Moisés Caicedo was the seventh Chelsea player to receive a red card against Arsenal in the Premier League, and the first since David Luiz in September 2017 – the Blues have only received more reds against Liverpool (8) in the competition.
Premier League Stats Opta
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over onX, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.