ENZO MARESCA'S MASTERCLASS: 10-MAN CHELSEA HOLDS ARSENAL, TITLE RACE ON
Enzo Maresca's tactical bravery, coupled with a dominant Reece James performance, allowed 10-man Chelsea to hold Arsenal to a 1-1 draw and keep the title race alive.
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.
DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.
Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.
Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”
Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.
“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”
It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.
IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL
Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.
Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?
Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.
That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.
Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?
Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:
Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)
João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)
Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)
Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)
Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)
Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)
Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)
Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.
But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.
Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.