Deranged Arsenal response to Moises Caicedo proves Chelsea hypocrisy

Enzo Maresca was correct in his post-match reaction to concede that Moises Caicedo's challenge on Mikel Merino was worthy of a red card. Few Chelsea fans can truly argue against it, even if the official brandishing the red deserves scrutiny.

Caicedo, for all he has been exceptional, recklessly lunged in and cost his team at least an extra two points. If the roles were reversed, as they were against Spurs a few weeks ago, Chelsea fans would have been calling for a red card.

It was reckless, it was dangerous, and he received the correct punishment. You would think that would be the end of it? Well not where Arsenal fans and podcasts are concerned.

Because Caicedo's rash challenge was not just an isolated incident in the mind of Gooners. This was a moment to jump on the Ecuadorian further and paint him as a loose cannon, intentionally stepping on the pitch to endanger opponents.

Chelsea fans forgave Moises Caicedo much sooner than Arsenal fans

A clip of the ArsenalVision podcast has found its way to Chelsea circles. In it, the host cites his pre-match belief that Caicedo would "be out to injure somebody in this game". Of course, Caicedo does not have a history of injuring opponents. The same clip references a graphic from Sky Sports that notes Caicedo is second in the tackle-to-foul ratio in the Premier League since 2022.

In isolation, this graphic tells us surface-level things. It does not take into account what type of foul it is. As Chelsea fans know, Caicedo's near impeccable timing in tackles leads him to be penalized when he has actually won the ball fairly. Sunday's rash challenge was the exception, not the rule. Due to his intense style of play, he is prone to conceding fouls, sometimes for tactical reasons too.

You cannot help but avoid the problematic undertones here from the off in branding a player in this manner. Let alone the stinking hypocrisy that, in the midst of focusing on this incident, which was correctly handled by VAR, the actions of some Arsenal players were conveniently forgotten.

Mere minutes after Caicedo had been given his marching orders, Piero Hincapié flung a wild elbow into the eye of Trevoh Chalobah. An elbow that caused visible swelling and required Chalobah to use an ice-pack during the interval. What about the way Viktor Gyokeres lunged into the face of Robert Sanchez for a ball he was first to?

Both of these moments were potentially reckless. You could quite easily return the favour in branding both Gyokeres and Hincapié with similarly charged labels. But that's irresponsible, and despite them causing controversy, this physicality comes with emotionally charged matches.

Only a week before, Arsenal fans were relishing Declan Rice going after Xavi Simons and throwing him to the turf. But when Enzo Fernandez did something similar to any of their players, it is suddenly a moral crime?

What this faux panic from some Arsenal corners is really about is an inability to handle an opponent providing Mikel Arteta's team with the sort of medicine they have dished out for a while. Part of what Arsenal have been praised for is their toughness and shrewdness in the "dark arts" of the game.

Scour Twitter and you see Arsenal fans astonished that Chelsea would have the temerity in an important London derby to not only stop them playing, but go into physical battles. It is the sort of pompous, entitled and whiny attitude that was ever-present during the Arsene Wenger years when his team could not handle Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.

In many ways, though, this all only vindicates Chelsea's improvement under Enzo Maresca. The sign of this behaviour is that Chelsea are becoming an issue again, and that is something fans should remember.