Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino avoided injury after Moises Caicedo’s challenge to help the Gunners earn a point in the Premier League title race.
Declan Rice has sent a defiant response to Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. The Gunners failed to capitalise on their man advantage after Moises Caicedo was sent off, and that was extra painful after Manchester City managed to clinch a late victory over Leeds United on Saturday.
Arsenal’s star man insists Mikel Arteta’s team will keep pushing after important wins in the league and Champions League over Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, respectively. They were handed the advantage to overcome Chelsea, who sat in second place going into the weekend’s fixtures.
The Ecuador midfielder was shown a red card after a high challenge on Mikel Merino – when his initial yellow card was upgraded to a red card on the stroke of half-time.
Arsenal are five points clear at the top-flight summit, having come from behind to earn a point after Merino cancelled out Trevoh Chalobah’s opener.
Taking to his Instagram story, Rice wrote: “A point to end a great week. Now on to the next. We keep building.”
Merino overcame the challenge from Caicedo to nod home the equaliser in the second-half. The ex-Real Sociedad midfielder continued to prove his importance to Arteta’s side with another goal contribution.
In a post on social media, the 29-year-old cast attention to their next midweek showdown with Brentford, where Arsenal will be looking to return to winning ways.
He wrote: “Take the point and make it good on Wednesday. Crazy week for the team. COYG.”
During his post-match media duties, Merino admitted that he was fortunate to not suffer a serious injury after the “horrible” challenge from his midfield counterpart.
“I felt my ankle go all the way, but luckily I have very mobile ankles and body,” he said.
“I knew it was a horrible challenge and it was going to be a red card.”
Arteta, meanwhile, reckoned on-field referee Anthony Taylor made the right decision. He said: “It was really fast. I saw the reaction and everyone was saying he’s off.
“Anthony [Taylor, referee] made the call and I think it’s the right one.
“It’s been a massive week emotionally and physically. We had one day less to recover.
“They got to play at Stamford Bridge after they just beat Barcelona. I expect and always want to win the game. We have another game on Wednesday and we have to prepare really well to beat a tough opponent like Brentford and then we have [to play] Aston Villa.”
