Arteta's injury-depleted squad secured a point at Stamford Bridge due to Mikel Merino's header in the 59th minute.

It required every effort Arsenal to leave unscathed after a fired-up Chelsea ignored Moises Caicedo's red card in the 38th minute and took the lead through Trevoh Chalobah's 48th-minute header.

Arteta was particularly impressed by Arsenal’s performance as they began a Premier League game without injured centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes for the first time this season.

Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres were only fit enough to be on the bench, and Leandro Trossard was also sidelined due to injury.

Given the situation, Arteta was pleased to see his team refuse to concede defeat after a draining seven days starting with a 4-1 win over north London rivals Tottenham and highlighted by a statement victory against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"It’s been a demanding week," he stated. "The derby, with all its emotion and the need to win, then Bayern Munich.

"We lost players in those matches. Today we had to play with a defensive pairing that hadn’t played together before in a very tough game.

"The team had to respond to that. It’s been a positive week despite the immense difficulty. But I have this feeling that we should have won today, and we didn’t."

As they pursue their first English title since 2004, Arsenal cannot afford to be without Saliba for long.

The French centre-back was absent after sustaining an injury in training and will be evaluated ahead of Wednesday’s match against Brentford.

"It’s been a challenge because we have needed many options and changes over recent months. Saliba’s absence was unexpected. Today was a valuable learning experience for all of us," Arteta said after his team extended their lead to five points over second-placed Manchester City and remained six points ahead of third-placed Chelsea.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca accepted Caicedo’s sending off for a reckless foul on Merino.

However, he questioned why Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur was not also sent off for a similar tackle on Reece James in November.

Maresca was additionally frustrated that an elbow from Piero Hincapie to Chalobah left the Chelsea defender’s face bleeding but only earned a yellow card.

"Moises’ red card was justified, but why wasn’t Bentancur’s challenge on Reece punished the same way?" he questioned. "As managers, we try to understand the differing decisions. It’s hard to comprehend.

"Regarding Trev, I asked the referee and was told it wasn’t an elbow. They judge differently. He has a black eye and was icing it at halftime."

James, usually a right-back, was excellent playing in central midfield, but when asked if the England international, who has struggled with injuries, would be available for Wednesday’s match at Leeds, Maresca responded: "The truth is no.

"We have a game on Wednesday, so we need to manage Reece carefully and monitor his condition."