Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca fumes at inconsistent refereeing by highlighting Rodrigo Bentancur's challenge on Reece James as example of double standards in the Premier League

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca hailed his 10 men for preventing Arsenal from pulling even further away at the top of the Premier League – but slammed the inconsistent refereeing that has been befalling the Blues of late.

Maresca conceded Moises Caicedo deserved his straight red card after 38 minutes for an reckless foul on Mikel Merino, but he was confused why referee Anthony Taylor did not then dismiss Piero Hincapie for elbowing Trevoh Chalobah, who was left with a noticeably swollen cheek. 

Maresca also cited Chelsea's trip to Tottenham earlier in November when Rodrigo Bentancur escaped red for a foul on Reece James which was not dissimilar to the one committed by Caicedo here.

Despite being pleased with how Chelsea's 10 men took the lead through Chalobah before Merino's equaliser, Maresca said: 'Moises' red card – it's a red card, but why was Bentancur's against Reece not a red card when we were at Spurs away?

'As a manager, I struggle to understand why they judge in different ways. Moises' is a red card, yes. Bentancur's is a red card, yes, so why they don't give him a red card?

'I struggle to understand. The reality is that it's a red card but why do they judge it in different ways? The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said to me that it was not an elbow. This is what he said. (Chalobah had a) black eye, ice at half time, but they judge in different way.'

Hincapie was shown a yellow card for that foul on Chalobah with Arsenal receiving six cautions overall in what was an aggressive London derby at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca added: 'Arsenal, they are top of Premier League, top of the Champions League, they have the best defenders in the Premier League, probably the best defenders in the Champions League. 

So, in this moment, they are the best team. And 11 v 11, I think we were better than them. Ten players changed the dynamic. 

If in February, March, we are where we are now, then we're going to be (in the title race). But we are still at the end of November, December.'

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said there were reasons why his side did not win despite playing most of this match with a man advantage, including having no William Saliba and Gabriel at the hart of their defence.

'It's been a big week, starting with the derby (Tottenham),' Arteta said. 'Then Bayern Munich three days later. We lost players in those games.

'Today, we had to play (a back four) that we have never played before in a really difficult match. The captain is still not here. 

'The nine is still not here. Kai (Havertz) is still not here. We lost Leo (Trossard) in midweek. The team had to react to that.

'Overall it's been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense. We should have and we could have won this game and we haven't. That's a learning point. We played every two-and-a-half days. We had one less day than Chelsea to prepare. We lost players. But it's the schedule.'

On Saliba's injury and how long he will be sidelined, Arteta added: 'I don't know. He's got another test tomorrow. We'll need to see the extent of that feeling, that sensation he had.'