Shkodran Mustafi says Arsenal gave their all against Chelsea and is convinced they will build on Sunday’s gritty performance.
The Gunners were heavily criticised for capitulating in their last away match, a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool three weeks ago.
But they were far more resilient as they earned their first point at Stamford Bridge in six years.
Centre-back Mustafi, who won his personal battle with Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata, said: “Happy? No, because I would like to win, but I think it’s a fair point. We had some great opportunities and they had a few at the end. The team performance was spot-on. Everyone gave everything and it’s really important we keep going like this.
“We are a team that are willing to learn. I think we can build from this performance because we were really well organised when we didn’t have the ball.
“When we had the ball, we played some brilliant one-touch football. We played against the champions and, if you play like this, I think you’ll get a lot of points.”
Mustafi thought he had won it for Arsenal 15 minutes from time when he met Granit Xhaka’s free-kick to head the ball past Thibaut Courtois.
However, his celebrations — and those of an Arsenal fan who ran on to the pitch — were cut short when the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
“I saw someone behind me, so I thought I wasn’t offside,” he said. “I knew I started a bit early, but I know as a defender it’s hard to stay in one line, so you get some going early, some a bit later. I thought if I start a split-second early, I might get this advantage. I got it but unfortunately the man behind me was Sead [Kolasinac] and no-one from the Chelsea team. I was really unhappy with that but it was offside.”
Arsenal had the best chance of the match, with Aaron Ramsey’s effort hitting the post and Alexandre Lacazette then hitting the rebound over from close range.
“We could have won it,” said Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. “It was an intense game between two teams going for it. Defensively we were much more stable. We were focused and showed character. If we weren’t we couldn’t get away with a point. We’ve shown we have the capacity to be strong away from home.”
