Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal: Hector Bellerin’s late strike sees 10-man Gunners earn point and show heart at Stamford Bridge
Mikel Arteta had attempted to rally his Arsenal side for tonight’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea by labelling it as a must-win if they were to have any chance of finishing in the top four.
While they failed to come away with all three points, the 37-year-old would have been the happier of the two managers as his side came from behind to draw level twice, despite having 10 men for most of the match.
Much had been said about Arsenal’s inability to hold onto leads, having lost seven points from winning positions in five games under Arteta.
Tonight, against the odds, they were able to do the opposite and demonstrate the growing strength in character the new boss has instilled.
Mistake-prone Mustafi
For all the joy that Hector Bellerin’s late equaliser would have brought, Arteta will still be left to rue his options in defence.
His decision to reintegrate Shkodran Mustafi into the first-team quickly came back to haunt him as the defender’s back-pass to Bernd Leno fell short and allowed Tammy Abraham through on goal midway through the first-half.
As the striker skipped past Leno, David Luiz fouled the forward to prevent a clear goal-scoring opportunity and left referee Stuart Attwell no choice but to award the penalty and send Luiz off.
Jorginho dispatched the subsequent spot-kick with ease to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead after 28 minutes and leave the Gunners playing with 10 men for the remaining 70.
Timid Chelsea
But this did not result in the dominant display that Frank Lampard and the home crowd would have hoped for. Instead, the game continued to cry out for creativity in the final third from both sides, with Arsenal now happy to sit and defend deep.
Chelsea were largely limited to opportunities from crosses and corners and often took those corners short, only to cross them in anyway.
It had clearly been planned and looked as though they would reap the rewards late on when Cesar Azpillicueta got Chelsea’s second from one.
As Arsenal’s backline pushed out, the right-back was quickest to move back in and poked it home at the near post.
Despite having 19 shots, Chelsea’s lack of goal-scoring prowess continues to be a major concern. Their creative output actually appeared to reduce after the sending off and they struggled to fashion chances against the deeper lying defence just as they did against West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton and Burnley.
Martinelli magic
Arsenal were lacking creativity themselves and going down to 10 men did little to help, encouraging them to rely on the counter-attack.
It took until the 63rd minute for the Gunners to register a shot on goal, but one shot was all it took as Gabriel Martinelli equalised.
The 18-year-old broke from a Chelsea corner, running 67 yards before cooly sliding past Kepa Arrizabalaga in front of the away fans.
It took just 13 seconds between Chelsea taking a corner and the ball ending up in the back of their net.
Just as Martinelli looked to have let the ball move too far ahead of him, N’Golo Kante slipped at a crucial moment, and the teenager went onto pull the Gunners level.
Leaving it late
For large periods the game had been a relatively subdued affair but it burst into life in the final 10 minutes as Chelsea proactively searched for a winner.
Azpillicueta’s strike in the 84th minute looked to have sealed the victory, but after that goal Arsenal decided to go gung-ho themselves.
As they searched for a way through, the ball came out to the other right-back, Bellerin, who then cut inside onto his left foot and curled the ball into the far corner to make it two goals from two shots.
Arsenal stood firm in the final minutes as Chelsea peppered their box to ensure the spoils were even and the gap between the pair remains at 10 points.