Arsenal are expected to receive a hefty fine from the Football Association (FA) following their disastrous defeat to Chelsea. Moises Caicedo was sent off in the first half, and the North Londoners were unable to pick up the three points despite bringing in additional players. After Trevor Chalobah gave the hosts the lead, Mikel Merino headed home to share the spoils.
As a result, Arsenal missed out on a golden opportunity to move into first place in the Premier League with a seven-point difference. To make matters worse, anger erupted at Stamford Bridge and they received at least six yellow cards. Piero Hincapie, Cristian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafioli, Martin Zvimendi, Miles Lewis-Skelly and Victor Gyokeres were all on the referee’s books.
As a result, the Gunners will be fined £25,000 by the FA, the Daily Mail reports. Under the current set of rules, teams receiving six or more yellow cards in a match face a financial penalty.
Chelsea, on the other hand, only had one booking as Marc Cucurella was given an early penalty. Caicedo was initially shown a yellow card, but VAR intervened and it was upgraded to a red card.
After the final whistle, Mikel Arteta noted the physicality and short-tempered nature of the game while assessing the performance of Arsenal’s players.
“From the start we knew how much was at stake,” he told BBC Sport. “All the duels and actions were full gas, very short sequences of plays. With 10 guys we expected and planned a different game and we got through it in the second half.”
“They get free kicks and they score. After that it’s a very tricky game to play. Overall, I think you have to be disappointed when you don’t win for 45 minutes with 10 men. But you have to know the week we were a tough opponent.”
“They also did everything they could. They’ve never played together before so we need to build that synergy. A lot happened before the game.
“The team spirit is intact. We’ve had a good week mentally and physically and I think overall it’s been a positive week.”
“In certain duels you have to play according to the situation and the way they present the game as well. There are certain moments that you can feel sometimes. We gave everything.”
Merino, who was fouled by Caicedo in the red card incident, added: “It’s a London derby so it’s always passionate. The red card tackle was tough, it was really tough.”
“That’s what you expect in this league and that’s what you expect on this field. This is a grown-up game and you’ve got to step up in this game.”
