Making his return to the club where he previously spent eight years, former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas experienced a day of contrasting emotions on Sunday his Chelsea side ground out a scoreless draw with the hosts.
He was conspicuously booed by sections of the home support at Emirates Stadium and was booked for diving in the first half, but warm applause burst through the wall of jeers as he made his way off in the 90th minute.
“I won’t deny that it was a special day for me,” said the Chelsea midfielder, who left Arsenal for Barcelona in 2011.
“To be substituted at the end and feel the love of the Arsenal fans meant a lot to me. I’m grateful for the life they gave me.
“Some people will be disappointed in me for the reasons why I left, but I am grateful forever.”
Asked for his thoughts on the hostility Fabregas had faced, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who blooded the Spaniard as a 16 year old, said only: “I’ve seen much worse.”
Arsenal remain 10 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea in third place, but having won their nine previous games in all competitions and reached the FA Cup final as holders, Wenger believes his side are on an upwards curve.
However, with top-four rivals Manchester City and Manchester United having endured difficult weekends with the former edging Aston Villa 3-2, the latter losing 3-0 at Everton, he feels now is not the time to think about next season’s title race.
“We want to finish the season well,” said the Frenchman, who has not beaten Jose Mourinho in 13 attempts.
“I watched Villa against City, and Everton today, and every game is difficult. But we need to keep the focus until the end of the season.
“Then we’ll see what we can do next season. Let’s finish well. We go to Hull now, then we want to secure the top four before the FA Cup final.
“Then the top three or the top two. That’s all to do now.”
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