ARSENE Wenger was facing tricky questions this evening (Sunday) after sacrificing Olivier Giroud as Arsenal went down to ten men in this home defeat to Chelsea.

The decision to play without a centre forward once Per Mertesacker had been sent off after little more than 20 minutes left the Gunners struggling for options up front as they tried to respond to Diego Costa’s first half goal. Giroud's withdrawl led to whistling from the Arsenal fans.

In a short post-match press conference, the Arsenal manager later seemed exasperated with questions from reporters, snapping that he could not have taken a poll of the crowd for suggestions over who he should withdraw so substitute Gabriel could come on and restock the Arsenal defence.

"In the end I make the decision and it was a normal one," Wenger said. "We knew with ten men we'd have to drop deeper and we'd need pace to go from box to box."

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The loss, and a third league match without a win, means Wenger’s men have surrendered their lead at the top of Premier Lague table and are playing catch-up to Leicester City and Manchester City, and have arch-rivals Spurs breathing down their necks.

Missing from the teams in the top four are, of course, Chelsea. But after a scarcely-believable season in which their players have looked dispirited and lacking in energy, today they played like this London derby was a cup final. Cesc Fabregas, anonymous so often since August, reacted to the boo-boys with one of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt, while Costa was full of snarling enthusiasm, playing his role of comic book villain to a tee.

His goal was a poacher’s strike at the near post just as Arsenal were re-organising after losing Mertesacker; the German defender saw red after scything down the Blues striker after being beaten for pace on the break.

Wenger appeared doubtful about whether the offence was worthy of a sending off, which follows two red cards for Arsenal players when these teams met at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

Mertesacker was sent off after just 20 minutes

"It looked quick and harsh," Wenger said, although he accepted that he had not analysed replays of the foul as often as the journalists asking him for his view. "In the end my opinion doesn't change it. The decision was made and we had to get on with it."

To Arsenal’s credit they did match Chelsea with ten men and the game was an even contest, but it was also true that the Gunners did not look like a team besotted with the idea of a never-say-die title challenge. There were no gung-ho gambles in the later stages as Wenger maintained the view that they could pass their way around a solid Chelsea defence.

This, after all, was a third opportunity for Arsenal to send out a message to the rest of the league which has not been acted on. Holding on for just a few more minutes against Liverpool would have built momentum. There would have been a buzz too if they had finally defeated Stoke away from home last week. 

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Both opportunities to make a big statement slipped away, and this afternoon another chance to come out fighting was lost against Chelsea. Strangely, the home fans seemed equally resigned to what has now become a familiar outcome in the fixtures between these two sides. As if playing to the 'library' cliche which is actually sometimes unfairly fastened to the crowd here, they sat in near silence for large periods of the second half, even as their team held decent possession. 

You’d have thought that Arsenal lay eighth or ninth in the table and that the result didn’t really much at all. What was needed was an Arsenal roar, with a leader to will them forward on the pitch; a Tony Adams, a Patrick Vieira, or even a Thierry Henry. Still, after all these years without one, Arsenal seem lacking in the guy who grabs the moment. Aaron Ramsey gave the ball away too often to make good on his own candidacy for such leadership.

So, playing with just a defence and lots of midfielders, Arsenal found chances were at a premium and it perhaps illustrates Arsenal’s confused strategy that twice it was Mathieu Flamini who was their most advanced player when sights of Thibaut Courtois's goal were finally earned. First the veteran Frenchman yanked a shot above the bar, and late on his shot was so timid that the Chelsea keeper's diving save looked like it was in slow motion.

There was hope in the form of Alexis Sanchez, pulled from a bench after a month off injured. He is the kind of player who looks like he could go around a whole team to score if he had the chance, but one man heroics here were asking a lot from a player without recent game time. His fitness could be key to how Arsenal respond.

Wenger urged caution among those who left unimpressed, however. "This was a special game," he said, lamenting how the chance to take Chelsea on 11 vs 11 had been surrendered by Mertesacker's dismissal. "Usually, when you have a red card and then straight away go 1-0 down, you end up losing 4-0." You get the impression, not losing by a bigger will be the basest of consolation for those making a quick getaway at the final whistle.

Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Monreal, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil, Campbell (Sanchez 57), Walcott (Oxlade-Chamberlain 76), Giroud (Gabriel 22)
Subs not used: Gibbs, Ospina, Chambers, Elneny

Attendance: 60,072