Pedro Neto’s strike cancelled out Gabriel Martinelli’s opener as Arsenal were held to a tense 1-1 draw at Chelsea, leaving both sides nine points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Enzo Maresca’s side were boosted by the news Cole Palmer was fit to start and the England international was straight into the action. However, his strike from 25 yards was brilliantly tipped over by David Raya
The home side were creating the better chances. Noni Madueke glanced a header wide at the far post before Malo Gusto missed the best opportunity of the half. Pedro Neto’s cross picked out the full-back but he could only plant his header over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.
Arsenal, who had Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice back in the starting XI, grew into the half and Martinelli’s shot was kept out by Robert Sanchez, before the Gunners thought they had the lead.
Chelsea switched off as Rice’s quick free-kick released Kai Havertz into the penalty area and the former Chelsea forward finished into the bottom corner. However, the Arsenal celebrations were cut short after a VAR check correctly ruled the goal out for offside against the Gunners striker.
The tense atmosphere continued after the break and the hosts were close to the opener when Wesley Fofana escaped the attentions of William Saliba before lifting the ball onto the roof of the net.
Arsenal led on the hour after Odegaard’s cross was converted by Martinelli at the far post, but Neto’s strike 10 minutes later brought the visitors level.
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Martin Odegaard breaks down Chelsea’s defence with a high ball to Gabriel Martinelli who scores the opening goal at the near post
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Pedro Neto scores his first Premier League goal to equalise for Chelsea
Both sides pushed for a winner and the best chance fell to Arsenal. Odegaard’s pass released Saliba into an advanced position and the defender’s cut back picked out Trossard inside the six-yard box. However, the forward miscued his effort, sending the ball wide and taking it off the toes of Havertz, who was in a better position to score.
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta takes to the floor in frustration after Leandro Trossard uses the final touch of the game to put the ball out of reach of Kai Havertz in front of goal
Trossard takes it away from everyone at the near post, they’re queueing up behind him. Havertz cannot believe it.
It left both sides with a point and moved them into the top four. However, the result leaves Arsenal, who lost further ground in the title race, with plenty to do if they are to end their wait for a first Premier League title since 2003/04.
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Sky Sports’ Zinny Boswell:
“We always talk about moments in title races.
“That felt like a bit of a moment for Arsenal.
“There is, of course, plenty of time to catch up the ground on Liverpool, but the win was right there for the taking.
“In the end, it’s a tough way for the game to end. Arteta’s reaction illustrated just how important the three points would have been heading into the break.”
‘Arsenal need to go on a run’
Martinelli puts Arsenal ahead in the second half
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson:
“It’s hard for Arsenal. They have a bullseye on their back.
“They are a big team and everybody wants to beat them.
“I find that their confidence is a little bit low at the moment. It wasn’t free-flowing against Chelsea and when your confidence goes, not everyone wants the ball. When they are in full flow, everybody is moving. It’s like the red arrows.
“Against Chelsea, when Partey, Rice and Odegaard had the ball, there wasn’t a lot of options. There aren’t five or six passes on.
“Arsenal have to go on a run now. They have to find some consistency. They can do it, they can reel off five or six wins on the spin and they are going to have to do it to get back in the title mix.
“They will not be far away, a good performance in Milan, although they did not really look like scoring and it is a hard place to go and they were completely comfortable, Raya did not make any world-class saves.
“So it is a start, but as Arteta says, he has to get the players fit now, they have to go on a run and make sure it comes down to six points before it goes up to 12 points – if it gets to 12, it is good night.”
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Arteta on injuries: Usually the team goes down
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Arteta was proud of his players’ performances and disappointed not to get all three points against Chelsea as he felt Arsenal dominated the match
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to Sky Sports:
“The disappointment of not getting three points is bigger [than being satisfied] and it will probably be bigger after watching it back. I think we dominated them, we were the better team in many phases and situations in the game and, after going ahead, very disappointed in the way we conceded. It was so poor. It is not our standards and we don’t accept.”
On Odegaard and injuries: “Our player has been out for six weeks and barely trained with the team. To be able to play at this level in the Premier League tells you how much he looks after himself and the leadership and character he has. Everything flows better with players like this. Today we clicked much better. You could see everything was flowing but again it is about winning.
“What we have found is that every day we have had to change something big, you know, the engine, the wheels, steering wheel because we’ve had problem after problem. Normally the team goes down but this team has unbelievable energy and spirit to play.”
Maresca: We wanted to be brave
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca declared himself satisfied with a point against a top-four rival, taking into account where his side are in their development.
“I enjoyed it, absolutely. The performance was good. We know them quite well and we competed pretty well,” he said
“The performance is very important for us in this moment and it was good. We played in the way we wanted to, brave, and try and play from the back always.
“It is the way we want to do the things. We try and play face to face against every team. We are Chelsea, so it is important to send this message. There are managers that have been at clubs for five and nine years so we are behind them.”
