Per Mertesacker Receives Red Card vs. Chelsea: Latest Details and Reaction

Per Mertesacker left Arsenal at a huge disadvantage in Sunday's derby clash with Chelsea when he was shown a straight red card after 20 minutes for hauling down Blues striker Diego Costa.

Chelsea's frontman was found in space behind Mertesacker, who couldn't make contact with the ball when sliding to recover as the last man. Sky Sports Statto captured the defender's reaction to the inevitable red card:

Bleacher Report's Chelsea correspondent Garry Hayes felt it was deserved punishment as Costa was denied a goalscoring chance:

In truth, the centre-back's severe lack of pace was brutally exposed by Costa, as noted by Bleacher Report UK:

Bookmakers Coral struck a similar tone:

It's the second time in as many meetings between these two teams that Arsenal have finished without 11 men. Gabriel Paulista and Santi Cazorla were sent off in their trip to Stamford Bridge last September, where they went on to suffer a 2-0 defeat. 

According to KICCA's Ian Stafford, this is one time too many in which Mertesacker's pace—or lack thereof—has let him down, and manager Arsene Wenger should be pushed to sign a replacement:

On the other side of the argument, Tom Williams of Agence France-Presse suggested Costa made the most of his tumble in attempting to influence referee Mark Clattenburg's decision:

A week of the January transfer transfer window remains, but it's unlikely one red card will convince Wenger to change his squad—especially when those plans include demoting his vice-captain.

Brazilian Gabriel will be expected to line up alongside Laurent Koscielny in Mertesacker's absence over the next few games after he came on as a substitute for Olivier Giroud during Sunday's match.