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Arsenal were held by 10-man Chelsea on Sunday but Theo Walcott claimed "they would have taken this at the start of the game" after their 1-1 stalemate.

The Gunners headed to Stamford Bridge knowing a win for the hosts would've cut the gap at the top to three points and the Blues took the lead despite being a man down. Moises Caicedo was shown a straight red in the first-half for a tackle on Mikel Merino.

Chelsea scored the game's opening goal as Trevoh Chalobah headed home from a corner, leaving Arsenal to come from behind. Having a man advantage ramped up the pressure on the north Londoners to leave the Blues with all three points.

Merino was able to score their equaliser from close range and Arsenal had more than half an hour to find a winning goal - but they ultimately failed to find it. Walcott admitted that it will be seen as an opportunity missed for the Gunners, but believes they would've taken a draw before kick-off.

He told Sky Sports: "Playing against 10 men, you are disappointed if you do not get a result, because you are expecting to win with the extra man. They would have taken this at the start of the game, but let's not take away what Arsenal have done up till this point - yes they will be disappointed they did not win today to get a bigger gap to Chelsea.

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"There were some tired legs, no excuses, but it will not derail them from what they want to achieve this year. Chelsea are their closest rivals at this moment in time and they have kept them at bay."

The draw means Chelsea remain six points behind league leaders Arsenal, whose closest challengers are now Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side closed to within five points of the Gunners after their late win over Leeds. Chelsea now sit in third, but Reece James was frustrated that they missed out on the win.

"It's disappointing to come away with only one point," he said. "We went down to ten men pretty early and that made it difficult. We had a lot more of the ball when it was 11 vs 11. Everyone can see where we are and what we're fighting for. Today was a big statement, even though we wanted to win, there's positives to take from that."

Chelsea haven't beaten Arsenal at Stamford Bridge since 2018 - a run that is further extended. The visitors pushed hard late on to find the decisive goal as Arteta sent on the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Odegaard, but the Blues stood firm.

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