Arsene Wenger frustrated but proud of his Arsenal players following defeat to Chelsea

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted he was left frustrated by their 1-0 loss to rivals Chelsea but insisted their show of resilience while down to ten men made him proud.

The Gunners were left a man short after just 18 minutes when Per Mertesacker received a red card for chopping down Diego Costa, and then went a goal down just minutes later as the Spain star poked the ball past Petr Cech.

Arsenal couldn’t muster an equaliser, despite good periods of plays, but their French boss could still see positives from the result, even if the sending off wasn’t clear cut.

“Was it a red card? I’m not convinced,” said Wenger.

“We have seen them given and seen them not given and today it was given, unfortunately. We had to take it on the chin and get on with the job.

“We had to cope with it. Overall we had to play 70 minutes with ten men and we were 1-0 down. It’s difficult.

“I’m frustrated and proud of the energy level we put in and the resilience we should until the last second. I think we have shown we are a team who are ready to fight.”