Echoes of London Derby: Maresca fuming at refs, Arteta hides behind schedule and injuries

A fierce London Derby and a fair 1-1 draw. Yesterday's clash between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge reminded senior football fans of those played a few decades ago - packed with fire, grit, intensity, and scuffles.

After all, the number of cards says it all: a yellow and a red for the Blues and as many as six bookings for the visitors.

What caused the biggest stir wasn't Moises Caicedo's deserved 38th-minute dismissal, but the fact that the referees reportedly have double standards in sending off Chelsea and their rivals' players - at least that's what the Blues boss Enzo Maresca claimed after the match.

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The Italian specifically pointed out two situations. The one from a month ago, when Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur got away without a red card for a horrendous tackle on Reece James and the other from yesterday, when Pierro Hincapie got "only" a yellow after elbowing Trevoh Chalobah.

"Moises' red card – it's a red card, but why was Bentancur's against Reece not a red card when we were at Spurs away? As a manager, I struggle to understand why they judge in different ways. Moises' is a red card, yes. Bentancur's is a red card, yes, so why they don't give him a red card?"

"I struggle to understand. The reality is that it's a red card but why do they judge it in different ways? The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said to me that it was not an elbow. This is what he said. (Chalobah had a) black eye, ice at half time, but they judge in different way."

"And 11 v 11, I think we were better than them. Ten players changed the dynamic," Maresca stated via Daily Mail.

On the other hand, his colleague on Arsenal's bench, Mikel Arteta, was generally satisfied with the result - after all, his team held on to the Premier League top with a five-point edge over the second-placed Man City - but claimed his crew should have won and highlighted numerous injuries and a busy schedule.

"It's been a big week, starting with the derby (Tottenham). Then Bayern Munich three days later. We lost players in those games. Today, we had to play (a back four) that we have never played before in a really difficult match. The captain is still not here. The nine is still not here. Kai (Havertz) is still not here. We lost Leo (Trossard) in midweek. The team had to react to that."

"Overall it's been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense. We should have and we could have won this game and we haven't. That's a learning point. We played every two-and-a-half days. We had one less day than Chelsea to prepare. We lost players. But it's the schedule," the Spaniard said via Daily Mail.

Either way, neither of the London sides will have much time to rest, as the new EPL round comes in just a few days. Arsenal will host Brentford in two days (22.30) in a duel of two lethal "set-piece teams," while Chelsea will face Leeds United at Elland Road (23.15).