Reece James gave his thoughts on a 1-1 draw for **Chelsea**against Arsenal.
The Blues were brimming with confidence after a 3-0 beatdown of **Barcelona**in midweek, and they could make a statement if they got the better of Premier League leaders **Arsenal**at Stamford Bridge. That looked like an improbable event when Moises Caicedo clattered into a late tackle on Mikel Merino and picked up a red card, but Trevoh Chalobah gave the hosts the advantage.
Merino levelled, but the hosts stayed in the game despite being down a man, and James set the tone with an impressive personal performance in the middle of the park as **Chelsea**competed admirably.
"It was difficult. We started well, we started sharp. It got more difficult when we went down to 10. If you look at the game collectively, we coped well with 10 against 11.
"I haven't watched the sending off back. This is a London derby, it was always expected to be on edge with lots of cards. This is football and is what happens when everyone wants to win.
"I try to help the team as best as I can. We had the ball a lot more, we were shuffling it side to side and collecting second balls. I thought that as a team, it was a really good collective effort.
"It comes with playing consistently, playing at a high level week in, week out. It's something I didn't do for a long period. I've got a good streak to gather and it's good to be on the pitch.
"The team is so young and we went toe to toe with the Premier League leaders at the moment. We didn't show fear. We tried to come out to win the game and unfortunately we didn't do that but lots of positive to take.
"Our objective is always to win, this is Chelsea and the standards here are high. I think the performance here will speak for itself and send a message to the other teams in the league."