Chelsea drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal on Sunday, going down to 10 men in the first half after Moises Caicedo was sent off, but manager Enzo Maresca feels Piero Hincapie should have also seen the red.
Enzo Maresca was involved in a red card dispute, claiming both teams should have finished with 10 men.
Chelsea manager Maresca admitted his midfielder Moises Caicedo deserved to be sent off for a “terrible challenge” on Arsenal’s Mikel Merino in the 38th minute. But Maresca insisted Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie also deserved a red penalty for elbowing Trevo Chalobá, saying the Chelsea defender suffered a black eye but only received a yellow card.
Chelsea captain Reece James insisted there should have been “another red card” and Maresca said: “I agree with Rees. So we as managers have a hard time understanding why they make different decisions. Chalova’s eyes are black. But they make different decisions. Their decisions are different.”
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“Moises got a red card, but so did Rodrigo Bentancur when we played against Spurs, so we have a hard time understanding that.
“Again, it was 11 on 11, but I think we were the better team than them. We managed the game, controlled the game, created chances. Then the red card changed the dynamic a little bit, but I still think the way the players dealt with it was outstanding.”
Arsenal midfielder Merino, who scored the equalizer, said: “My ankle felt sore towards the end, but luckily my ankle and body are very mobile. I knew it was a bad challenge and would have resulted in a red card.”
However, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta admitted his side had dropped two valuable points in the title race, despite still being five points behind second-placed Manchester City.
Arteta admitted he was disappointed despite salvaging a point, saying: “That’s how we feel and that’s the standard we’ve set for ourselves.”
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“I think it was a very positive week overall because the difficulty was huge. But there’s a feeling today that we should have won the game, we should have won, but we didn’t. That’s a learning point for me.”
Arsenal will be without defender William Saliba, who was injured in training on Friday, while the Gunners will be left wondering how long Gabriel will be out with Gabriel already sidelined. They face Brentford on Wednesday before traveling to Aston Villa at lunchtime on Saturday.
Arteta added: “I think Willy will have another test tomorrow. We’ll have to see the extent of his emotions, the sensations he felt. And we’ll find out about Gabi in the next few weeks.”
