Mikel Merino’s second-half header earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Chelsea, though the Gunners will rue not taking more after Moises Caicedo was sent off before the break.
Despite the man advantage, Arsenal fell behind to a Trevor Chalobah header seconds into the second half, but Merino hit back on 59 minutes. Both sides pushed, neither found a winner, and a point apiece felt about right.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos made of the action…
Mikel Arteta on a tough London derby…
Right from the beginning, you could sense how much was at stake. Every duel and action was full gas, very short sequences of play. With the 10 men, we expected a different game; we planned it, we went through it in the second half. They get a free kick, and they score. Then it becomes a very tricky game to play. Overall, I think that when you don’t win with 10 men for 45 minutes, you have to be disappointed. But you have to know the week we had, a tough opponent.
Source: BBC Match of the Day
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Enzo Maresca on his side’s performance…
I think we showed we are heading in the right direction. I always say the same. The performance has been fantastic. We were a much better team than them 11 v 11, but with 10 players, it is difficult, but we dealt with it outstandingly. 11 v 11, we were better than them. We tried to exploit the best solution, the best space. We knew the space was for Malo and Estevao on that side. Tonight we can be happy even if we didn’t win.
Source: Sky Sports
Chelsea captain Reece James on a physical match…
I think everyone can see where we are and what we are fighting for. I think today was a big statement. Even though we wanted to win, there are lots of positives to take. If you look at the amount of yellows there were, I thought there was going to be one more red. It’s a London derby, everyone wants to win this game. Arsenal have been at the top for the last few years. We knew that playing them wasn’t going to be easy. Their midfield is tough but we tried to play our game and hurt them off the ball.
Source: Sky Sports
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Arteta on losing more players to injury…
It’s been a headache, because we’ve had to have a lot of options and changes over the last few months for different reasons. That one is very unexpected and it happened yesterday, but the beauty of it is that you have players so willing to play, so willing to connect with each other, and it makes their relationship even better. So, it was a great match for all of us, and it gives you the reassurance that whoever is there is going to perform.
Source: Post-game press conference
Theo Walcott on Caicedo’s red card…
Caicedo does not need to be doing that in that position. We can speak about VAR and all that, however, Caicedo, you felt that was coming from his initial start of the game. I felt it was going that way.
Source: Sky Sports
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Arteta on Caicedo’s red…
It was really fast. I saw the reaction and everyone was saying he’s off. Anthony made the call and I think it’s the right one.
Source: Sky Sports
Ian Wright on the draw…
You have to take it. Even though Chelsea went down to 10 men, you wouldn’t have guessed it. They really played well, Reece James in particular. When you’re going for what Arsenal are going for, yes you want to win the game, but you’ll still take that. Coming off the week they’ve had, big games, and I don’t think you should be too disappointed. The main thing is not to lose it. With the two centre-halves [Gabriel & Saliba] missing, two new centre-halves coming in [Mosquera and Hincapie], I think if it was 11 men it would have been a tough game, even tougher. I think they would have had more possession and caused [Arsenal] more problems.
Source: premierleague.com
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Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola’s take…
I think it was very good play, considering the strength of Arsenal. Chelsea played with plenty of energy and could have got another goal. I’m pleased with the performance.
Source: premierleague.com
Theo Walcott on Merino being ahead of Gyokeres in the pecking order…
I think he’s more trusted in the big games. I think he’s a player that you know what you’re going to get, you know exactly the kind of game you’re going to face, and he’s got so much more experience in these games.I think Gyokeres will be more of an impact player in the big games. I really do see that now. I just think he [Arteta] trusts him [Merino] a lot more.
Source: Sky Sports
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Arteta on coming through a challenging week unbeaten without some big names…
It’s been a big week. Starting with the derby, with how emotional [it was] and the necessity 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 [centre-back] partnership we hadn’t played before in a really difficult match. The captain [Odegaard] is still not here [ready to start], the No. 9 [Gyokeres] is still not here [ready to start], Kai [Havertz] is still not here, and we lost Leo [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 was 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.
Source: Post-game press conference
The post Post-Chelsea quotes round-up: Arteta, Maresca, James, Merino, Walcott, Wright appeared first on Arseblog News – the Arsenal news site.
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