Okay, so from my view, that game on Sunday was just crazy. We saw a proper London derby end 1-1, and honestly, it felt like everything happened. Chelsea, they scored first with Chalobah, but then we got one back through Merino. It was all so tense.
Then there was the red card. I think it was Caicedo for Chelsea, he got sent off before half-time. His challenge on Merino was just really bad, like you had to look away. It’s lucky Merino was even okay after that.
Our team, Arsenal, we were without Saliba which is a big deal. So maybe getting a point at their place isn’t the worst. But when they went down to ten men, you feel like you gotta win. The game just changed completely after that.
Chelsea, even with one less player, they came out strong in the second half. Reece James, I have to say, he was just everywhere for them. It was his corner that led to their goal, a header from Chalobah. The crowd there went absolutely wild.
But we didn’t wait long to answer. Saka, who was causing them problems all day, put in a great cross and Merino was there to head it in and make it even. He almost won it for us late on too, but their keeper Sánchez made a good save.
The referee, Anthony Taylor, he was busy the whole time. So many yellow cards and arguments. My manager, Arteta, he felt like Chelsea were trying to get our players who were on a yellow into trouble. Their manager, Maresca, he thought one of our players should have been sent off for an elbow. Just a lot of complaints from both sides.
I remember in the first half, there was a big chance for Chelsea’s Willian but he put it over the bar. And just before the break, Fernández and Mosquera had a real go at each other. It was all so heated.
We tried to push with the man advantage, bringing on guys like Ødegaard and Gyökeres. We had a lot of the ball near the end, but we just couldn’t find that second goal. You come away thinking it was a chance missed, even though it’s a point. A game like that, with all that happened, it just shows what this rivalry is all about.
Honestly, from the match, a thing that stuck with me was how the mood felt. After the equalizer, the game got even more frantic, like both sides forgot for a minute who had the extra player. There was a sense that anything could happen next, which is both exciting and kinda stressful to watch.
For me, I also kept thinking about the goalkeepers. Our keeper, he didn’t have as many spectacular saves to make, but his timing coming for crosses was so important. And for them, Sánchez, he really was brave at the end there, like when he smothered that rebound. A draw sometimes leaves you thinking about what if, you know?
Looking at the bigger picture from this, it’s two points dropped for us probably. But the season is long, and there’s plenty of games left to play. You just have to take the point and move on, really, and learn from what went wrong in this one.
