Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal: A decent step towards the final

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal took a solid step towards the Carabao Cup final with a 3-2 win at Chelsea last night. I don’t think the scoreline really tells the full story, and in truth, we should probably have put this game to bed with some of the second half chances we had.

Mikel Arteta rang the changes again, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard were back, and Jurrien Timber was picked at left-back ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly. That meant Ben White starting on the right, and he put us ahead early on when unconvincing goalkeeping and poor defending from Chelsea allowed him to nod home Declan Rice’s corner. His reaction to the fans who had been giving him stick as he was about to take it is well worth your time this morning.

In general, I thought the first half was relatively even, a bit scrappy in places with moments, if not clear cut chances, for both sides. The pitch didn’t help either. Obviously Chelsea made a conscious decision to let the grass grow in the two weeks since their last home game, and that took some of the zip out of our passing game and the way the ball moved.

In the second half though, I think we stepped it up and were by far the better and more dangerous side. We were just 4 minutes into the second period when we extended the lead. Bukayo Saka held off the persistent irritant, the footballing hemorrhoid commonly known as Marc Cucurella really well, Ben White overlapped and put in a low cross which Robert Sanchez let slip through his hands, and Viktor Gyokeres was on hand to slide in and get the ball over the line for 2-0. The Swede had shown some frustration that the ball didn’t come earlier from Saka, but stayed alert for his first open play goal since scoring against Burnley on November 1st.

Not long afterwards though, Chelsea got one back. We just went a bit scrappy, I think there was a slip in midfield, they crossed it to the back post where they had an overload, and substitute Alejandro Garnacho fired home to make it 2-1. I do wonder if Kepa, who had been given the nod over David Raya, might have done better, perhaps making himself bigger – but the main issue was allowing that chance and extra man at the back post.

Mikel Arteta put on Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino for Trossard and Martin Odegaard, and again good work from Saka on the right saw the Spanish international feed Gyokeres in the box. He laid it off for Martin Zubimendi who shimmied past one defender, faked to shoot and went past another, then fired home with his left foot. It was superb, shades of the way Thierry Henry shaped to finish when he scored *that* goal against Sp*rs all those years ago. That’s his fourth goal of the season, and it’s a dimension to his game that perhaps not too many were expecting.

Then, there were a couple of moments where we could have put this tie to bed. With Chelsea all over the place defensively, the ball looped up for Merino to hit it, and in this case I don’t think you could ask much more from him. On his right foot, he cracked a volley towards goal, but having been a mess earlier on, Sanchez made himself really big and pulled off essentially a miracle save with his big toe. From the resulting corner, Gabriel had a chance that 9 times out of 10 you’d put the house on him to score, this time he headed it down into the ground and the ball bounced over the bar.

So, this game could easily have been 4-1 to Arsenal, but from a corner Chelsea scored again. Kepa came, got nowhere near it in a pretty unconvincing way, and when it fell for Garnacho his shot evaded the despairing dive of Gabriel to make it 3-2, which is how it ended up. I think a bit flattering for Chelsea based on the chances we had, but in the end a win away from home in a two-legged semi-final is not to be sniffed at.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

First of all, I have to praise the players for the performance in the game that we just played against a really good opponent. With so much quality on that pitch, we had the feeling at the end, after the 1-3 and the very dominant period that we had in that time, that we had two massive chances to score the fourth one. The result would have been very different, but in that moment, they had an action, they created a corner, they scored a goal and it’s game on. So that feeling is not perfect, but as well we have to value what the team has done again.

It’s just half-time, and we know the big fight that we’re going to have back at the Emirates in a few weeks’ time, because they are a top side. Overall, I’m very happy, but it could have been better.

So, there’s probably some frustration that we didn’t win this more comprehensively, but our recent semi-final record has not been great and in the cold light of day, the important thing is that we won, and that there are some real positives to take from the performance. Obviously the spotlight has been on Gyokeres of late, so to end the night with a goal and an assist will hopefully be the kind of confidence boost he needs right now. Strikers thrive on that, and it’s been in short supply, so fingers crossed we see the benefits of that going forward.

I thought Saka had a quiet first half but a second where he influenced the game from an attacking perspective without adding to his numbers. I know his goals and assists aren’t where we know they can be, but I’m seeing signs from him that give me real encouragement. There were more minutes for Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus which should be useful, and overall any win at Stamford Bridge is worth enjoying, even if there is a sense we missed a bit of an opportunity last night. It just means we stay focused and then finish the job at home next month.

Now though, we put it to one side, and turn our attention to the weekend and the trip to Nottingham Forest. The manager clearly went strong last night because of the opposition and being away from home, so is there scope for him to shuffle his pack a bit for Saturday? That’s a discussion for another day, but we will have a discussion about last night in an Arsecast for you a little bit later on.

Stand-by for that, for now have a good one.

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