Frustration in the air but Eberechi Eze hails draw for Arsenal at 'aggressive' Chelsea

LONDON — Eberechi Eze looked for the positives as Arsenal drew 1-1 at Chelsea on Sunday despite being up a player for over half the game.

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"An important point" is the phrase Eze kept repeating as he spoke to reporters after the game, as Arsenal stretched their lead atop the table to five points ahead of second-place Manchester City.

But being up a player from the 38th minute on, then going 1-0 down before Mikel Merino made it 1-1 with over 30 minutes to go, there's no doubt that Mikel Arteta and Arsenal's players will be disappointed they didn't grab the win against a close rival in the title race.

Pro Soccer Talk asked Eze if it was frustrating for Arsenal to not beat Chelsea given the man advantage for so long and the the kind of game Chelsea made it from the very start.

"Yeah, of course [it's frustrating]," Eze said. "I think it was an opportunity for us today but I think as long as we're sticking to the process and keeping a good perspective, it's an important point for us and we'll keep going."

Did Arsenal struggle to manage the game with Chelsea being down to 10 but still being a threat on the break?

"Yeah, that's the game sometimes. It's difficult in different phases, different bits of momentum throughout the game, but we’ve done what we needed to do today. We tried, we gave everything, and yeah, it's an important point," Eze said.

Chelsea snapped into tackles early and often and seemed to knock Arsenal out of their stride. Marc Cucurella rattled into Bukayo Saka twice early and was booked the second time. Moises Caicedo was sent off for a shocking tackle on Mikel Merino. Arsenal had four players booked in the first half. Enzo Fernandez snarled in the face of every Arsenal player he could. It was chaotic, scrappy and exactly the kind of game Chelsea wanted to make it. It felt like Arsenal fell into that trap quite easily.

Asked if this was the toughest test Arsenal have had so far this season in terms of a physical scrap, Eze admitted Chelsea were feisty but they are the kind of tactics the Gunners are getting used to facing.

"They were aggressive," Eze admitted. "We've had challenges throughout the season of loads of battles and duels and stuff like that so this wasn’t too different. I think, yeah, at times it was difficult for us, but we sat in and we continued to do what we were doing and we take the point."

Ahead of the home game against Brentford on Wednesday, Eze was asked about Arsenal's injuries mounting up (William Saliba is the latest to go down) and how the squad is dealing with players constantly coming in and out of the team.

"Yeah, we've got a lot of players coming back and we've had a few injuries," Eze said. "It's important for us all to be ready, to be there, and we're working towards that. Everyone can see ones that are injured, they're coming back, and they're coming back strong. So, yeah, it's important to have them."

Eze and Arsenal are keeping the vibes positive by saying it was an important point for them at Chelsea. But as he admitted, it was also an opportunity missed. The chance to go nine points clear of Chelsea was there for the taking but Arsenal couldn't take it. It's not the end of the world but perhaps a sign they won't run away with the title like many were predicting a few weeks ago.