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Chelsea captain James says 10-man Blues 'dominated' Arsenal / Photo: © AFP
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Chelsea captain James says 10-man Blues 'dominated' Arsenal
Chelsea captain Reece James reckons his "dominant" side made a statement in holding Premier League leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw despite losing Moises Caicedo to a first-half red card.
The Blues had been the better team at Stamford Bridge on Sunday before the sending-off of Caicedo in the 36th minute for a studs-up tackle on Mikel Merino and then prevented their London rivals from pulling clear.
Defeat would have left Chelsea nine points behind Arsenal and all but out of the title race.
But Enzo Maresca's men went ahead through Trevor Chalobah's header early in the second half despite being a man down.
Merino equalised for Arsenal just before the hour but Chelsea dug in and held out in difficult circumstances.
"We dominated the game in every area throughout, with 11 men and 10 men," said James.
"I think that was a big statement on where we are and what we're fighting for. We've come a long way, we're building on result after result and I think we showed that."
Chelsea's resilience was in marked contrast to the two previous occasions this season when they had gone a man down in the first half, with the Blues losing to Manchester United and Brighton after Robert Sanchez and Chalobah saw red.
"I'm proud," said James. "The team is so young but we went toe to toe with the team at the top of the Premier League. We didn't show fear and we tried to come out to win.
"We knew it was going to be tough but it was a game we felt we probably could have won. It was difficult to only walk away with a point. We played 60 minutes with 10 men, having to cope with the league leaders."
For Arsenal, now five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, it was a tough end to a week that had seen the Gunners post important wins over both Tottenham and Bayern Munich.
"It's been a massive week for us," said Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, a second-half substitute after returning from a knee injury.
"Some big games, some big results. This was another big test for us. We wanted to come here and finish off the week with a win but it was a tough battle.
"They were fighting really hard for it and we didn't do enough to win."
U.Campbell--SFF
