A Ten-Man Arsenal team on Tuesday held their city rivals, Chelsea, to a 2-2 draw, on a night that saw the return of David Luiz ending abruptly with a red card after bringing down Abraham inside the box.
David Luiz’s red card came in the 26th minutes of the game, and once again it was that man Jorginho that slotted home from the spot to give Chelsea the upper hand.
The Chelsea forward had pounced on a terrible backpass by Shkodran Mustafi and rounded keeper Bernd Leno when he was shoved over by Brazil defender Luiz.
Chelsea were dominant for long periods but failed to kill the game off as ten-man Arsenal team held on tight soaking up the pressure, up until when N’Golo Kante slipped inside the centre circle allowing 18-year-old Martinelli to gallop free and produce an excellent finish, the Brazilian’s 10th league and cup goal of the season.
It was Arsenal’s first shot on target and came after a Chelsea corner which was cleared by Mustafi, the German atoning for his earlier error.
Chelsea thought they had won it when skipper Cesar Azpilicueta scored from six yards six minutes from time but spirited en-man Arsenal team earned a point through captain Hector Bellerin.
Mikel Arteta remains without an away win since taking charge in December yet they played better with 10 men and their gutsy second-half performance was sprinkled with positives.
A good result away from home for Arsenal, but the team are far from good, as they remain 10th on the table, a position not good enough for a team such as Arsenal. It is also a 4th straight draw for the London team, who are desperately in search of a win, and a form that will see them qualify for the Europa Cup next season.
For Chelsea, the coaching crew clearly lack the tactical attributes needed to finish up teams that have adopted a defensive style to frustrate them as we have seen in most games against smaller teams. But the game on Tuesday against a ten-man Arsenal team that all three points were there to be taken, and the Blues failed to do just that, shows how inexperience Lampard is and if cares are not taken, it could cost them a top four finish this season.