James says 10-man Chelsea 'dominated' leaders Arsenal

Chelsea captain Reece James reckons his “dominant” side made a statement in holding Premier League leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw despite losing Moises Caicedo to a first-half red card.

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The Blues had been the better team at Stamford Bridge on Sunday before the sending-off of Caicedo in the 36th minute for a studs-up tackle on Mikel Merino and then prevented their London rivals from pulling clear.

Defeat would have left Chelsea nine points behind Arsenal and all but out of the title race.

But Enzo Maresca’s men went ahead through Trevor Chalobah’s header early in the second half despite being a man down.

Merino equalised for Arsenal just before the hour but Chelsea dug in and held out in difficult circumstances.

“We dominated the game in every area throughout, with 11 men and 10 men,” said James.

“I think that was a big statement on where we are and what we're fighting for. We've come a long way, we're building on result after result and I think we showed that.”

Chelsea's resilience was in marked contrast to the two previous occasions this season when they had gone a man down in the first half, with the Blues losing to Manchester United and Brighton after Robert Sanchez and Chalobah saw red.