Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta happy with "hugely positive week" despite Chelsea draw

This, despite a growing injury list and a demanding run that had included victories over Tottenham and Bayern Munich.

Arsenal earned their point through a firm Mikel Merino header on 59 minutes after Chelsea, who had Moises Caicedo dismissed in the 38th minute for a dangerous challenge, went ahead through Trevoh Chalobah's towering header early in the second half.

Arteta said his players "refused to accept defeat" at the end of a draining seven-day spell that he believes underlined their title credentials.

The Arsenal manager admitted the circumstances were far from ideal as his side started a Premier League match without both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes for the first time this season. Saliba suffered a knock in training on Friday and is being assessed ahead of Wednesday's league fixture against Brentford, while Gabriel was unavailable through injury. Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres were only fit enough for the bench, and Leandro Trossard was ruled out entirely.

"In the last week we have beaten Spurs and Bayern Munich, but we have also lost players," Arteta said. "Today we had to use a centre-back pairing that had never played together in a really tough away match.

"The team reacted incredibly well. It has been a positive week, even though I still have the feeling we should have won the game."

Arsenal moved five points clear of Manchester City and remained six ahead of Chelsea as they continue their pursuit of a first league title since 2004. Arteta admitted the constant reshuffling of his back line had become "a headache" but said the battle at Stamford Bridge offered "a great learning match for all of us".

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca accepted Caicedo's red card, calling the midfielder's tackle on Merino "a clear dismissal", but he pointed again to what he viewed as inconsistent refereeing after Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur had escaped a red card for a similar challenge on Reece James earlier in November.

Maresca was also angered by the decision to show only a yellow card to Piero Hincapie after the Arsenal defender's elbow left Chalobah with a swollen, bloodied eye. "I asked the referee and he said it was not an elbow," Maresca said. "They judge incidents in different ways. Trevoh has a black eye and needed ice at half-time."

James, who impressed in an unusual central-midfield role, will not feature in Chelsea's midweek trip to Leeds. "We have to manage him carefully," Maresca said. "The reality is he will not be ready for Wednesday."

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