Chelsea earned a gritty 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal despite playing more than half the match with 10 men after Moises Caicedo’s yellow card was upgraded to a red for a studs-up challenge on Mikel Merino.
Arsenal equalised through Bukayo Saka’s clever wing play, setting up Merino to head home, but the visitors failed to make their numerical advantage count as Chelsea defended resolutely and even threatened on the break.
With both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes absent, Arsenal looked uncharacteristically fragile and collected six bookings in a stormy encounter that also saw Chelsea protest Piero Hincapie’s yellow for an elbow on Trevoh Chalobah.
Late chances fell to both sides, but the Blues held firm for a hard-earned point that trims Arsenal’s lead at the top from six points to five.
