Eberechi Eze says Chelsea’s physicality was nothing new to Arsenal, as the Gunners have already faced a lot of teams looking to play the same way.
A lot of the talk following Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge has been about discipline, with hosts Chelsea picking up a red card, and Arsenal earning an FA fine for their six yellows.
Even before Moises Caicedo’s red, it was clear he’d come to the game with the intent to be as physical as possible. He celebrated an early challenge on Jurrien Timber with the crowd and committed a needless foul with a push on Eberechi Eze even before the sending-off incident.
But when Eze was asked about Chelsea’s physical approach to the match after the game, the Arsenal midfielder insisted it was nothing they hadn’t seen before.
“They were aggressive, we’ve had challenges throughout the season of loads of battles and duels and stuff like that, so this wasn’t too different,” Eze said. “I think, yeah, at times it was difficult for us, but we sat in, and we continued to do what we were doing, and we take the point.
“There was an opportunity to win, and we want to win every single game that we play.
“It’s difficult, but as I said, it’s a point that we’ll look back on and be happy that we’ve got at least this. So we’re sticking positive and continuing to believe.”
With games against Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich in the previous seven days, it was inevitably going to be difficult for the Gunners to keep up the same physical intensity for another London derby away to Chelsea.
Even so, there will be plenty of frustration at the fact Arsenal couldn’t capitalise on the first-half red card to secure a win on Sunday.
Eze and his teammates now need to channel that frustration productively and go for a win against Brentford on Wednesday.