On November 30, Arsenal travelled to West London to face second-place Chelsea. It was a scrappy game, with one red card and numerous yellows for both sides. After the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke to the press, reacting to his side’s draw and their busy fixture schedule.
Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal’s draw against Chelsea
Arteta discusses busy fixture schedule
It was a scrappy game for the majority, with Arsenal having the majority of possession but Chelsea looking the more dangerous. The game took a dramatic turn when VAR recommended that a late Moises Caicedo tackle be upgraded from a yellow card to a red. Chelsea adapted well and navigated their way to half-time.
A bright start from the Blues saw Trevoh Chalobah head in a Reece James cross to send Stamford Bridge into raptures. A Saka cross was turned in by Mikel Merino to equalise. Chances came and went for both teams. Arsenal looked more dangerous as the game progressed, drawing two impressive saves from Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal. The game finished 1-1, in what was ultimately a fair result.
Read More: Best Arsenal Players to Wear the Number 14 Jersey Ever
Giving his summary of the game, Arteta said:
“Yeah well first of all I think it was a proper London Derby. Two teams very willing to win and not much football.
“It was a lot of starts and stops. After the sending off, we wanted to settle the game. We didn’t do that.
“After half-time I said let’s pause it now, build the intention.
“The momentum shifted and the team had to react to that. We score a great goal, we had two or three chances but we lacked certain manners to win the game.”
On the tiredness shown by his team today, the Gunners boss said:
Read More:Best Chelsea Players to Wear the Number 15 Jersey Ever
“We played every two and a half days. We lost players. But it’s the schedule and now we’re going to have to play Wednesday.
“That’s the beauty of it as well. Not many teams get to play the games we have played.”
The Latest on William Saliba
Reflecting on not having William Saliba for the game:
“To be fair it’s been tested since pre-season because we lost six, seven players constantly out of the squad.
“I have no doubt we can succeed with the players we have.
“I don’t know, he has another test tomorrow, we need to see the extent of the feeling,” added Arteta regarding the latest on Saliba’s availability.
Featured Image Credit:
IMAGO / Action Plus