Arsenal were beaten by rivals Chelsea, 1-0, on Sunday to leave the north London club three points behind surprise Premier League leaders Leicester City. The defeat to the Blues was essentially decided in the 18th minute of the match when defender Per Mertesacker was sent off after he brought down a goal-bound Diego Costa. While the contact was minimal between the two  players, and Costa surely made the most of it, the German center back should have never went to ground in the situation.

Following the red card, it did not take Chelsea long to go ahead in the match. Costa put his club ahead 1-0 five minutes after the expulsion. Seeing red is, however, nothing new for Arsenal players against Chelsea. The Gunners have total red cards in Premier League play during the current campaign and all three have come against their west London counterparts. In fact, Arsenal have been shown more red cards versus Chelsea than any other league opponent.

The game-changing moment on Sunday appeared to deflate much of the Gooners inside of the Emirates Stadium, but not necessarily the 10-man Arsenal team on the pitch. Despite being a man down for much of the match, the Gunners still had 47% of the possession and fired off nine shots. At a time in which many onlookers assumed the game would quickly get out of hand, Arsenal created scoring chances throughout and certainly had their fair shot at an equalizer ahead of the final whistle.

SEE MORE: Arsenal don’t have Chelsea block, says Wenger.

While the result was certainly disappointing psychologically, the Gunners should feel positive about their fight and unwillingness to give up. Manager Arsene Wenger echoed these feelings following the match. “I think we had a good attitude and fantastic spirit despite the negative result today,” stated the Frenchman.  “I think we should come out [of this] with even more belief.”  This could be a defining moment of the 2015/16 season for the north London club.

Just last year, Arsenal lost a tight game in February against another rival, Tottenham Hotspur. Although there were no red cards on that day at White Hart Lane, the Gunners were frustratingly edged out by an 86th minute goal by Harry Kane. The loss sent Arsenal down to sixth place at the time, and feelings were similar toward the club as they are now following the recent Chelsea match.

Nevertheless, the defeat against their rivals seemed to bring the Arsenal team closer together. Following that game, the Gunners only recorded one defeat over their last 14 Premier League fixtures and wound up leapfrogging Spurs and finishing in third place, 11 points clear of their north London neighbors. Arsenal fans will be hoping for a similar run to end the current campaign.

Another reason to be cautiously optimistic is the fact Arsenal are finally getting healthy once again. Superstar Alexis Sanchez made his first appearance on Sunday in nearly two months following a hamstring injury in November. The former Barcelona forward was once again electric with the ball at his feet, although there was seemingly some rust with his long passes. Along with Alexis getting back to his normal self, Frances Coquelin, perhaps one of the more important players in the entire squad, has returned to full training and should be set to make his own return after over two months on the sideline.

The midfield enforcer is the rock that this Gunners team needs just in front of the back four. Along with the vital duo of Alexis and Coquelin returning, Arsenal have Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck coming into the fold as well.

SEE MORE: Arsenal are getting healthy at just the right time.

In spite of the disappointing loss on Sunday, Arsenal are actually level on points with Manchester City, the oddsmakers’ choice to hoist the title at season’s end.  With 15 league matches remaining (39% of the season), including a meeting with City in May, there is obviously plenty of time for the Gunners to make their title run.  The end of the 2015/16 Premier League season is set to be a thrilling four months, as four clubs are currently within five points of each other at the top of the table.