Mikel Arteta appraised the performance of **Arsenal**in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
The Gunners put in massive displays to thrash **Tottenham**4-1 and defeat Bayern Munich 3-1, but they could not complete the set in their first week back from the international break. Mikel Merino cancelled out a Trevoh Chalobah opener, but across 90 minutes, the guests looked a little flat.
“First of all, I think it was a proper London derby. It was really tense, and you could sense from the beginning that every duel, every action, has something on it. Two teams very willing to win, and not much football. A lot of stops, free-kicks, yellow cards, so not a lot of fluidity.
*“But obviously after the sending-off of Moises Caicedo, we wanted to settle the game. We didn't manage to do that - we had four more yellow cards, and those players were obviously targeted in order to even the game in terms of numbers.*
“And at half-time we said, let's push it now, get what we have to do, and we were very clear on our intention and how we were going to dominate the game in the first action. Long ball, free-kick, corner, and we concede from a set-piece. So then, the momentum shifted, and ultimately the team have to react to that.
“We managed to get some good spells without having too much momentum and we score a great goal, and after that, we had two or three big chances but lacked certain detail, especially in the manner we attacked, and especially in certain positions, Robert Sanchez had the ball in his hands.”
“It's been a big week, starting with the derby, with how emotional and the intention we had to win it, then to play Bayern Munich three days later. We lost players in those games and today, for example, we had to play a partnership we hadn't played before in a really difficult match.
“The captain is still not here, the No. 9 is still not here, Kai Havertz is still not here, and we lost Leandro Trossard in midweek as well. But the team had to react to that, and overall it's been a really positive week, because the difficulty has been immense, but I have this flavour that today we should've won the game, and we haven't. That's a learning point for me.
“We played every two-and-a-half days, so we had one less day than Chelsea to prepare, and on top of that, we lost players. But this is the schedule - now we're going to have to play Wednesday, for sure.
“It drives you on, there was a lot at stake and we had two very intense matches. But, that's the beauty of it as well. Not many teams have the opportunity to play the games we have played this week, and I'm extremely proud of the team.
*“[Taking positives from a good away point] is the feeling that we have, and the standards that we set to ourselves. Probably it's because of the spirit, the hunger and how much they want it, that it's so incredible we'll overcome everything. So many things have happened, but we have to prepare very well for Wednesday, and try to be better than Brentford.”*