ARTETA TAKES HEART FROM ARSENAL ESCAPE

Mikel Arteta insisted Arsenal deserved respect after the Premier League leader battled to a bruising 1-1 draw with title rival Chelsea at the end of a grueling week.

Arteta's injury-hit side salvaged a point at Stamford Bridge thanks to Mikel Merino's header in the 59th minute.

It took everything Arsenal had to emerge unscathed, after firedup Chelsea ignored Moises Caicedo's 38th minute red card and took the lead through Trevoh Chalobah's 48th minute header.

Arteta was especially impressed with Arsenal's display because it started a Premier League match without injured centerbacks William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes for the first time this season.

Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres were only fit enough for the bench, and Leandro Trossard was also absent due to injury.

Under the circumstances, Arteta was delighted to see his team refuse to accept defeat after a draining week, which started with a 4-1 rout of north London rival Tottenham and featured a statement victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"It's been a big week," he said. "The derby, how emotional and the necessity to win, then Bayern Munich.

"We lost players in those games. Today we had to play a partnership we haven't played before in a really difficult match.

"The team had to react to that. It's been a positive week, because the difficulty was immense, but I have the feeling that today we should have won the game, and we haven't."

As it chases a first English title since 2004, Arsenal can't afford to be without Saliba for long.

The French centerback was missing after suffering a knock in training and will be assessed ahead of Wednesday's game against Brentford.

"It's been a headache, because we have to have a lot of options and changes in the last few months. Saliba was unexpected. Today was a great learning match for all of us," Arteta said after his side moved five points clear of second-placed Manchester City and stayed six ahead of third-placed Chelsea.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca accepted Caicedo's dismissal for a crude foul on Merino.

But he questioned why Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur was not sent off for a similar challenge on Reece James in November.

Maresca was also frustrated that an elbow from Piero Hincapie on Chalobah left the Chelsea defender's face bloodied, but drew only a yellow card.

"Moises is a red card, but why Bentancur against Reece was not?" he said. "As managers, we try to understand why they judge in different ways. We struggle to understand.

"The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said it was not an elbow. They judge in different ways. He has a black eye, he was (treating it) with ice at halftime."

James, usually a right-back, was outstanding in the center of midfield, but when asked if the England star, who has battled injury problems, will be able to play on Wednesday at Leeds, Maresca said: "The reality is no.

"We have a game on Wednesday, for Reece we need to manage him and control his situation."

Red card experts

When Caicedo was sent off against Arsenal 38 minutes into the game, it was a familiar dilemma for Maresca's side which has now been reduced to 10 men on six occasions in all competitions this season.

The four red cards for Chelsea players in the Premier League are the most for the west London club at this stage of a campaign, and the figure is double that of any other team.

Fortunately for Maresca, the previous three league dismissals — which led to two defeats for the Blues — seem to have taught his young players how to adapt.

They were not ruffled by the loss of Caicedo for landing his boot on Merino's ankle.

Maresca — who himself was sent off in October for celebrating a late winner for Chelsea against Liverpool too wildly — said his message to his players was clear in the dressing room at the break.

"I told them at halftime you need to double the effort and they were outstanding," he told reporters.

Maresca, pressed by reporters about Chelsea's chances of challenging for the title, said it would be a possibility only if his players perform consistently at the highest level.

"But, we are at the end of November, December," the Italian said. "Now we have Leeds away on Wednesday."

Arteta was left to rue the missed opportunity to stretch Arsenal's lead at the top.

"After the sending off of Caicedo, obviously we wanted to settle the game. We didn't manage to do that," he said. "Today we should have and could have won the game."

Arsenal, which beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League and thrashed north London rival Spurs 4-1 last Sunday, next faces Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Arteta said central defender Saliba, who missed the trip to Stamford Bridge after a training ground knock, would be checked on Monday to see the extent of the problem. Magalhaes, his regular partner in the back line, has "some weeks to go" before his return from injury, Arteta said.

Agencies