London Derby Ends Without Winners, Chelsea – Arsenal, 2-2

Chelsea and Arsenal played a draw, 2-2, in the derby match of the English Premier League’s Week 24. We can say that the guests are far more satisfied with the result, as they trailed twice and had a player fewer on the pitch.

On the other side, this was another poor performance by Chelsea, who couldn’t maintain its consistency and therefore lost two very valuable points in the race for the fourth spot and the Champions League place.

“We feel like we lost the game. We had the game in our hands, then in the last second conceded a goal when we shouldn’t. It’s hard. We need to move forward,” said the scorer of the first goal for the home team, Jorginho.

The hosts had 19 shots on goal, while on the other side, the guests posted just two and both of them went in. The frustration of Chelsea’s fans was obvious right after the final whistle, with many of them booing to their favorites and expressing visible displeasure.

Bend it like Bellerin! 😍

Arsenal's captain for the night rescues a point for the visitors with a stunning effort!

What a moment for him! pic.twitter.com/tGc190cqp2

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2020

Arsenal came back from the dead in the 87th minute, with their captain Hector Bellerin scoring a beauty to level the score at 2-2. Just three minutes before that, Cesar Azpilicueta brought a lead to the hosts, which many believed that will be decisive.

“Everything is due to the teamwork. It was a really hard game with 10 men and losing a very important player for us,” said Bellerin. “We turned it around. We were 1-0 down at half-time and saw it as an opportunity to get back into the game.”

The Blues were attacking all the time, and once they finally broke Arsenal’s defense, many believed that it was the end of the game. Yet it didn’t happen like that.

What especially hurts the hosts is the fact that they had a player more on the field for an hour, and the way the Gunners received that punishment was very demoralizing for them.

David Luiz, the former Chelsea leader, brought down Tammy Abraham in the box, earning an ejection along with a penalty given to the Blues. Jorginho scored to provide the edge for Lampard’s side, who expected to bring this match to an end routinely.

However, after failing to utilize the number of players on the field, Chelsea received a slap in the face. It was delivered by Gabriel Martinelli, the young teenage sensation from Brazil, who proved that he really is among the top 5 prospects in the world. Following his individual effort, Arsenal level the score to 1-1, for a stunner, which dazzled the hosts a little bit.

🗣"He has the club in the palm of his hand…" @martinkeown5 says Gabriel Martinelli is leading by example despite being just 1️⃣8️⃣

That's 🔟goals now for the Brazilian, who is the first Arsenal teenager to reach that tally since Nicolas Anelka in 1998-99 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/NM7LF9cH1B

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2020

“Martinelli took it really well. He was very calm. He finished it really well,” said Bellerin, praising his young teammate.

With a point from this one, Arsenal is currently occupying the 10th place in the EPL standings with 30 points, 10 fewer than Chelsea in the No.4.

Now what is troublesome for the Blues is the possibility of Manchester United and Wolverhampton cutting their deficit for them to just three points, which will add additional pressure on this young team.

Up next, Chelsea travels to Leicester to face Leicester, which will be a very tough challenge at this moment. They will have to win, but the way the Foxes play, it isn’t going to be easy. On the other side, Arsenal plays against Burnley also on the road.