ARSENAL missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League after a frustrating 1-1 draw against ten-man Chelsea.
The Gunners produced an under-par display at Stamford Bridge but were given the advantage when Moises Caicedo saw red for a horror challenge on Mikel Merino.
But the Blues stunned their rivals by taking the lead shortly after the break thanks to Trevoh Chalobah‘s header.
And Arsenal eventually got level when Merino powered home Bukayo Saka‘s cross.
But Mikel Arteta‘s men were forced to settle for a five-point lead over Manchester City after failing to break down a stubborn Chelsea side.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jack Rosser rated the visitors on a difficult night at a freezing Stamford Bridge.
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David Raya – 6
There was nothing the Arsenal keeper could have done to stop Trevoh Chalobah’s looping headed goal. Raya did not have too much to do outside of that, dealing with a straightforward Enzo Fernandez shot in the first half.
Jurrien Timber – 6
The Dutchman was responsible for stopping Chalobah from Chelsea corners and easily allowed the defender to move ahead of him for the opening goal.
Cristhian Mosquera – 5
The Spaniard had the almighty task of standing in for the injured William Saliba, and put himself in an awkward position very early on with a needless challenge on Joao Pedro, in the Chelsea half, earning him a 13th minute booking
Piero Hincapie – 5
Survived a huge scare when he let Pedro in one-on-one, only for the Brazilian to duff his pass to a Blues teammate, escaped a VAR check for a dodgy elbow towards Chalobah and just about made it through this derby.
Ricardo Calafiori – 6
Kept Chelsea wonderkid Estevao Willian very quiet in the first half but picked up a cheap yellow chasing Reece James around and was replaced at the break.
Martin Zubimendi – 6
Dragged into a physical battle by Blues midfield – the composed Spaniard did not quite hit his usual levels and resorted to clattering Reece James – for which he was booked.
Struggled to get much of a hold on things and was replaced before the hour.
Declan Rice – 6
On an afternoon that was billed as Rice vs Caicedo, the Arsenal man struggled to have his usual influence on proceedings.
Amid a maddening midfield battle, Caicedo was in the ascendancy until his first half sending off, while Rice had little joy on the ball before moving to the base of midfield after Zubimendi was withdrawn.
Bukayo Saka – 7
The Gunners man had Marc Cucurella‘s number from minute one. The Spaniard snapped into Saka and was quickly booked.
Saka left Cucurella in a twist before delivering a fine cross for Merino to nod in.
Gabriel Martinelli – 5
A quiet afternoon for the Brazilian, not helped by Arsenal lacking control while he was on the pitch but did not give Malo Gusto too much to think about.
Eberechi Eze – 5
After his heroics against Tottenham, this was a fall back down to earth for Arsenal’s summer signing.
Eze showed some great class to tee up Saka for a first half chance but other than that it was not a game for him. All about brute force rather than his fine touch.
Mikel Merino – 7
Had to be incredibly patient waiting for his chance, but found space and delivered when Saka finally managed to lift a cross his way in the Chelsea box.
Substitutes
Myles Lewis-Skelly (Calafiori, 45′) – 6
Brought on to replace Calafiori with the Italian on a booking and was booked himself after just eight minutes of the restart.
Noni Madueke (Martinelli, 57′) – 6
Given a rough welcome back to the Bridge by the Blues support and gave ex-teammate Gusto more to deal with than Martinelli had managed.
Martin Odegaard (Zubimendi, 57′) – 6
Added a little spark to the Arsenal attack but could not help the get a stranglehold despite being up against ten men.
Viktor Gyokeres (Eze, 72′) – 5
The biggest mark the Swede left was on Blues keeper Robert Sanchez, clattering the Spaniard with just a few minutes to go as he chased a loose ball.
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