Chelsea were reduced to 10 men in the first half of their 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal on Sunday when Moises Caicedo was sent off but Enzo Maresca feels Piero Hincapie should have seen red too
Enzo Maresca got embroiled in a red card row after insisting both teams should have finished with ten men.
Chelsea boss Maresca accepted that his own midfielder Moises Caicedo deserved to be sent off for a “horrible challenge” in the 38th minute on Arsenal’s Mikel Merino. But Maresca insisted Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie also deserved to see red for an elbow on Trevoh Chalobah which left the Chelsea defender with a black eye but only resulted in a yellow card.
Chelsea captain Reece James insisted that there should have been “one more red card” and Maresca said: “I agree with Reece. So us as managers, we struggle to understand why they judge in different way. Chalobah has a black eye. But they judge it in different way.
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“Moises was a red card. But so was Rodrigo Bentancur when we played Spurs. That is why we struggle to understand.
“Again, 11-11, I think we were a better team than them. We managed the game, we controlled the game, we created chances. Then the red card changed the dynamic a little bit, but even with that, I think the way the players dealt with that has been outstanding.”
Arsenal midfielder Merino, who snatched the equaliser, said: “I felt my ankle go all the way but luckily I have very mobile ankles and body. I knew it was a horrible challenge and it was going to be a red card.”
But Gunners boss Mikel Arteta admitted that his side had dropped two valuable points in the title race even though they remain five points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
Arteta admitted he was disappointed despite rescuing a point and said: “That’s the feeling that we have and that’s the standards that we set for ourselves.
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“I think overall it’s been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense. But I have this feeling that today we should have and we could have won the game and we haven’t. That’s a learning point for me.”
Arsenal were without injured defender William Saliba who was hurt in training on Friday and the Gunners now face an anxious wait to see how long he will be out for with Gabriel already out. They face Brentford on Wednesday and a trip to Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.
Arteta added: “I think Willy got another test tomorrow. We’ll need to see the extent of that feeling, that sensation that he had. And we’ll know more with Gabi still some weeks to go.”
