Enzo Maresca reflected on another stalemate between **Chelsea**and **Arsenal**in West London.
For the second successive season, the Blues held their London rivals to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Trevoh Chalobah scored the go-ahead goal for the hosts, who held on after Mikel Merino equalised to take a point despite being down to ten men after a Moises Caicedo red card.
It has been a big week for Maresca’s men, who smashed **Barcelona**3-0 in midweek, but head coach contained expectations about his side, seeking to take things week by week near the top of the table.
“I think sometimes you have to be happy even with one point. For sure, the target was to win the game. Again, 11v11, I think we were a better team than them. We managed the game, we controlled the game, we created chances and we didn't concede anything. Then the red card changed a little bit the dynamic, but even with that, I think the way the players dealt with that and were outstanding.
“*Arsenal**, they are top of Premier League, top of Champions League, best defenders in the Premier League, probably best defenders in Champions League. So, in this moment, they are the best team.*
“And I think 11v11, we were better than them. Then with 10 players again, changed the dynamic. So, the effort from the players has been outstanding.
*“The Man United game, the change was because Man United attacked with five players, they attacked in a different way compared to Arsenal. Most of the time you judge because of the result.*
“We changed, we lost, so it was a bad change. Tonight, every time we do something, it's because in that moment we consider that it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
“But for sure, the way the players dealt with the players, the effort, I told them half the time, we need to double the effort. And they were outstanding.
“Robert Sanchez* was very good. When you are with 10 players against Arsenal, for sure if you want to take a point or win the game, you need some special performance, like Robert, like Reece James. So we are very happy with Robert's performance. Reece, now, his performance has been fantastic, top.*
“Now, we have a game on Wednesday. For him, very good. We need to manage him, we need to control him, we need to control a little bit his situation. But he was very good tonight.
“If in February, March, we are where we are now, we're going to be for title. But we are still, you know, end of November, December. Now we are weeks away. Wednesday, that is a very difficult game. So, you need to be there every time, every time, every time.
*“But for sure, you know, Arsenal tonight, Barcelona the other day, Liverpool, PSG, these kind of games, for sure, they give to the players, you know, the confidence to grow and to believe.”*