Ten-man Chelsea hold off Arsenal in tetchy 1-1 London derby

VIDEO SHOWS: STILL PHOTOS FROM PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH BETWEEN CHELSEA & ARSENAL WHICH ENDED IN A 1-1 DRAW / POST-MATCH COMMENTS FROM CHELSEA MANAGER ENZO MARESCA & ARSENAL MANAGER MIKEL ARTETA COMPLETE SHOTLIST TO FOLLOW STORY: Ten-man Chelsea held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in a highly charged top-of-the-table London derby on Sunday (November 30), with Mikel Merino cancelling out Trevoh Chalobah's opener to spare the Premier League leaders' blushes. The result means Arsenal sit five points clear at the top of the table on 30 points ahead of Manchester City with Chelsea third on 24. Chelsea were already a man down when defender Chalobah flicked a header into the net from a pinpoint corner by captain Reece James three minutes after the break. Chelsea had been growing in confidence and were edging Arsenal going forward until Moises Caicedo was sent off in the 38th minute after a VAR check for landing a crunching tackle on Merino's ankle. Arsenal replied when Merino rose to meet a Bukayo Saka cross in the 59th minute. They pushed for a winner with substitute Martin Odegaard going close twice and Merino forcing an outstanding save from Robert Sanchez in the dying moments. The game was a real derby scrap from the outset with some bad-tempered clashes and referee Anthony Taylor, rarely slow to reach into his pocket, also brandished seven yellow cards – six for Arsenal and one for Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, who spent the match snapping at Saka's heels. (Production: Stefan Haskins)

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