Red card experts Chelsea learn how to cope with 10 men
LONDON, Nov 30 : When Chelsea's Moises Caicedo was sent off against Arsenal 38 minutes into their London derby on Sunday, it was a familiar dilemma for Enzo Maresca's side who have now been reduced to 10 men on six occasions in all competitions this season.
The four red cards for Chelsea players in the Premier League are the most for the west London club at this stage of a campaign, and the figure is double that of any other team.
Fortunately for Maresca, the previous three league dismissals - which led to two defeats for the Blues - seem to have taught his young players how to adapt.
They were not ruffled by the loss of Caicedo for landing his boot on Mikel Merino's ankle.
Maresca - who himself was sent off in October for celebrating a late winner for Chelsea against Liverpool too wildly - said his message to his players was clear in the dressing room at the break.
"I told them at halftime you need to double the effort and they were outstanding," he told reporters.
Chelsea even managed to open the scoring three minutes after the restart when Trevoh Chalobah met a Reece James corner and flicked a header past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
When Merino equalised in the 59th minute by converting a Bukayo Saka cross, most fans at Stamford Bridge would probably have expected the visitors to go on and make their numerical advantage count.
Mikel Arteta brought on fresh firepower with Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres coming off the bench with about 20 minutes to go. But the Gunners seriously threatened only once more when Merino's shot was saved by Robert Sanchez in the 88th minute.
The draw means Arsenal's lead at the top is cut to five points ahead of Manchester City who are on 25. Chelsea sit third on 24.
Maresca, pressed by reporters about Chelsea's chances of challenging for the title, said it would be a possibility only if his players performed consistently at the highest level.
"But we are at the end of November, December," the Italian said. "Now we have Leeds away on Wednesday."
Arteta was left to rue the missed opportunity to stretch Arsenal's lead at the top.
"After the sending off of Caicedo, obviously we wanted to settle the game. We didn't manage to do that," he said. "Today we should have and could have won the game and we haven't."
Arsenal, who beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League and thrashed north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 last Sunday, next face Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Arteta said central defender William Saliba, who missed the trip to Stamford Bridge after a training ground knock, would be checked on Monday to see the extent of the problem. Gabriel Magalhaes, his regular partner in the back line, has "some weeks to go" before his return from injury, Arteta said.
(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
