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Shkodran Mustafi urges Arsenal to build on encouraging performance in draw at Chelsea

The Gunners took their first Premier League point from Stamford Bridge since 2011 as they held the reigning champions to a 0-0 stalemate

Mark Mann-Bryans
Monday 18 September 2017 13:00 BST
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Shkodran Mustafi clashes with Alvaro Morata at the Bridge
Shkodran Mustafi clashes with Alvaro Morata at the Bridge

Shkodran Mustafi insists Arsenal must use their performance in Sunday's goalless draw at Chelsea as a starting point for success this season.

The Gunners took their first Premier League point from Stamford Bridge since 2011 as they held the reigning champions to a 0-0 stalemate.

Arsenal arguably could have won the game as Aaron Ramsey hit a post and Alexandre Lacazette blazed the rebound over from close-range, before David Luiz was shown a straight red card for Chelsea in the closing stages for a foul on Sead Kolasinac.

Despite having to settle for a share of the spoils, Arsene Wenger's side were much better than in the recent 4-0 defeat at Liverpool before the international break.

Now Mustafi, who saw a second-half header ruled out for offside, wants to build on the display moving forward.

"We are a team that are willing to learn," he told arsenal.com.

"I think that we have to try and build from something and I think we can build form this performance because we were really well organised when we didn't have the ball.

"When we had the ball, we played some brilliant one-touch football. I think we can build from this. We played against the champions of last season and if you play like this, I think you'll get a lot of points. We can build from that."

Arsenal host Doncaster in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night before West Brom are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium next Monday.

Mustafi believes the momentum gleaned from a strong performance against a major rival must now roll on into their upcoming matches.

"I love playing in the Premier League because you can see that everyone is going to try and win, try and perform," he added.

Mustafi saw his late goal at the Bridge disallowed for offside 

"I think in the end, even though we didn't get the three points, we performed and now we can go with that into the next game."

Chelsea had a great chance of their own as Pedro saw his effort saved by former Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Antonio Conte's side had won their last four games in all competitions heading into Sunday's London derby.

Despite that run coming to an end, Chelsea captain Gary Cahill was pleased to take a point from a game they could easily have lost.

"It was frustrating in some ways," the England defender told Chelsea TV.

"Obviously we wanted to win the game, but if we weren't going to win, it was important we didn't lose. It's a good point.

"It felt frustrating because we were trying and trying, but they defended well and limited us to a few chances.

"We had a lot of the ball but couldn't quite open them up. We feel we have the ability to go for three points every time we play here, and we tried to do that, but we take the point."

PA

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