Just ten weeks ago, Wayne Rooney criticised Enzo Maresca's substitutions after Chelsea's loss to Manchester United when they were down to ten players.

Rooney felt that taking off Estevao, Pedro Neto, and Cole Palmer at Old Trafford let United control the game and weakened Chelsea's attack, even after Casemiro was sent off for the home team.

Chelsea fans might have worried about a repeat when Moises Caicedo was red-carded for a bad foul on Arsenal's Mikel Merino in their 1-1 draw.

Caicedo is the sixth Chelsea player to get a red card this season—seven if you count Maresca's for celebrating too much during their win against Liverpool at home.

While Maresca needs to sort out this lack of discipline, he didn't back down this time. Facing the league leaders with ten men for over 50 minutes, he showed bravery, and his players matched it.

Maresca didn't hesitate. Instead of playing it safe, he took a chance, bringing on Alejandro Garnacho at halftime and Liam Delap before the hour mark.

Kweku Afari says the title race is still alive after Chelsea drew with Arsenal while playing with ten men.

This bold approach paid off when Chelsea surprisingly scored first with Trevoh Chalobah's header from Reece James's corner in the 48th minute.

It was Chelsea's tenth goal from a set piece this season, second only to Arsenal.

If you can't beat them, join them!

Even though Merino equalised just 11 minutes later, keeping Garnacho and Pedro Neto on the field, with Delap as the main threat, meant Arsenal couldn't relax or commit too many players forward to find a winner. A win would have put them seven points clear at the top.

In the end, Arsenal's coach, Mikel Arteta, was happy to get a draw, just like Maresca, after a big week for Arsenal, having already beaten Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.

Chelsea wasn't going to be as easy to push around as Spurs were in the north London derby last weekend.

Joao Pedro set the tone for what Arteta called a proper London derby by fouling Cristhian Mosquera right after kickoff.

From that point on, Arsenal couldn't get into their usual flow, even with an extra player.

Everyone expected the battle between Caicedo and Declan Rice to be key, but it was captain Reece James, playing in midfield again, who led the way.

James was the best player on the field, stopping Rice from controlling the game and threatening Arsenal's defence with his great passing.

James's perfect corner led to Chalobah's goal.

It's no surprise that England's coach, Thomas Tuchel, really wants his former Chelsea player to be fit for next summer's World Cup.

If James can keep playing like this after struggling with injuries for three years, he'll be important for both his country and his club.

James's determined performance showed everything good about Maresca's confident Chelsea team, who will at least keep Arsenal under pressure in the title race.

What a difference ten weeks can make.

Moises Caicedo says he always wanted to move to Chelsea, even though Arsenal was interested.

Chelsea signed the Ecuador international from Brighton for £115 million two years ago.

Arsenal made multiple offers for Caicedo, including a £70m bid, but Brighton turned them all down.

Caicedo struggled at times in his first season with Chelsea. But now, under Enzo Maresca, the 24-year-old has become one of the top midfielders in the league.

In a recent interview, Caicedo talked about why he picked Chelsea over Arsenal in 2023.

‘Things happen for a reason,’ Caicedo said. ‘I almost joined them, but I’m glad I’m here now. The timing was right.

‘I waited for Chelsea. Some people made fun of me, saying I made the wrong choice, but it takes time to get used to a big team. I needed that time.

‘I want to give everything to this club because they believed in me. I picked Chelsea because they want to win. I want to win a lot of trophies with them.

‘I want to stay here for a while and keep getting better. I want to win even more trophies.’

Before Chelsea’s game against Arsenal on Sunday, Maresca said you can't really compare Caicedo and Declan Rice.

‘I was at West Ham when Rice was just starting,’ said Maresca, who used to be Manuel Pellegrini’s assistant.

‘Rice was younger then, and I worked with him a lot. You could tell he was already really good.

‘He was playing as a central defender with the second-team players. Pellegrini decided to move him to midfield in the first team, but he was younger than Caicedo is now. Still, it was clear he was very talented.

‘Rice isn’t just a holding midfielder now; he’s playing further up the field, kind of like Enzo Fernandez. It’s a different role.

‘He’s improved a lot, and that’s thanks to Mikel Arteta’s work. He’s a great, all-around player. He can defend, attack, and do everything.’