BUBBLY HORROR
DAVID LUIZ loves to play the tough guy, but this time he overstepped the mark.
His feud with Arsenal defender Saed Kolisanic, which started towards the end of the second half, boiled over a minute from time.
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Luiz embedded his studs in the Arsenal left-back’s ankle when he deliberately over-ran the ball in front of the technical area.
Such a hothead at times, such a silly boy.
Luiz will serve a three-match ban for Chelsea, an automatic suspension after this stupid, foolish sending off.
It has been coming, getting into a petty squabble when they clashed moments after he had clattered into Danny Welbeck.
When the chance came for a little bit of afters, Luiz took it a couple of minutes from time.
It left Chelsea with ten men, hanging grimly on to this point against a rough and tough Arsenal side.
They had looked to be there for the taking.
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Without two of their best players - Mesut Ozil (injured) and Alexis Sanchez (bench) - Arsenal were surely history.
Instead they battled their way to a draw, a point at Stamford Bridge after five years of failure here.
They deserved it, working the champions over with a resilient, gritty display. It is not often you can say that about Arsenal.
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Chelsea were toothless, struggling to make any meaningful impact against their north London rivals.
There were a long way off their best.
They had warmed up so nicely in the week, putting Qarabag away in their Champions League opener at Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Conte’s side did not get close to that level here.
They had a couple of chances, with Petr Cech saving well from Pedro when he was clean through and again when substitute Eden Hazard danced his way through Arsenal’s defence.
Beyond that they were well shy of a top class performance.
Arsenal, on the road for the first time since the shambolic defeat at Liverpool, earned this.
Without Ozil, who cried off with a knee complaint, and leaving Sanchez on the bench for nearly 70 minutes, Arsenal looked short.
Instead they could have won it, with Danny Welbeck steering a first half header wide and Aaron Ramsey hitting the post when he tricked his way through.
FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS
- After winning just four of the previous 16, Chelsea had won their last five home Premier League games against Arsenal, since a 3-5 defeat in October 2011.
- Coming into the game, the Gunners hadn’t kept a Premier League clean sheet at Stamford Bridge in their last 12 visits, shipping at least twice in each of the last eight.
- The Gunners haven’t lost six consecutive away league games versus a single team since a seven-game run versus Liverpool at Anfield between 1981 to 1988.
- John Terry was back at Stamford Bridge for the first team since he left the club last summer as he watched from the stands along with another former team-mate Frank Lampard.
- Arsenal have won two of their last four games against Chelsea in all competitions – as many as they had in their previous 12 combined.
- Chelsea had scored in 23 successive Premier League games at Stamford Bridge with over half of these (12) seeing them score three or more goals.
Latest Chelsea news
- The Blues had a player sent off in their last two games against Arsenal in all competitions (Victor Moses in the FA Cup final, Pedro in the Community Shield). But they haven’t had a player sent off against them in a league game since Khalid Boulahrouz in May 2007.
- Arsenal have lost their first two Premier League away games of the season (0-4 vs Liverpool and 0-1 vs Stoke) – the last time that they lost their first three away games in a league season was 1954-55.
- David Luiz was booked after kicking Laurent Koscielny in the face with an attempted overhead kick in the Arsenal area.
Latest Arsenal news
- Alvaro Morata has scored three goals and assisted two more in his Premier League career so far – all have come via his head.
- Arsenal thought they had scored through Shkodran Mustafi's header - but he was one of three players offside in the build-up.
- This was Arsene Wenger’s 59th match against Chelsea with Arsenal, making them the club he’s faced the most in his time in north London.
WHAT THEY SAID
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey said: "We showed solidarity and a much better performance and that is what we needed after Liverpool.
"On another day we might have come away with the win. We are on a good place, we just have to build on this."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "I think the tackle had excessive force. I think even Luiz will accept, with a bit of distance, that he went in a bit strong."
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said: "David Luiz, you know very well that I don't like to comment about the referee.
“I don't do it in the past, or the present. You need to see what happened before the tackle.
"We have great respect for officials, but it is strange to finish a third game in a row against Arsenal with 10 men."