In the first leg of the English League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, Arsenal scored two goals thanks to mistakes by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, resulting in a 3-2 victory over Chelsea.
In the seventh minute, a corner kick went over Sanchez and Ben White headed it into an unguarded goal. In the 49th minute, the Spanish keeper swung in a low cross that found Victor Goqueres for a tap-in.
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho pulled one back, but Martin Zvimendi scored in the 70th minute to restore Arsenal’s two-goal cushion.
Garnacho’s second goal (83rd) gave Chelsea a lifeline ahead of the second leg at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on February 3.
Still, Mikel Arteta’s side are favorites to reach the final at Wembley Stadium on March 22 in what is shaping up to be a great season for the Gunners, who lead the Premier League by six points and are top of the Champions League table.
Liam Rosenior, who is in charge of Chelsea’s first home game as new manager, refused to criticize Sanchez’s mistake.
“I told him before the game and I made this very clear: When a player makes a mistake, I am responsible. It’s my responsibility,” Rosenior said.
“I remain positive towards him, as do the whole group. My job is to help them, not to blame them.”
city ahead
In another semi-final matchup, Manchester City won 2-0 They face Newcastle in the first leg on Tuesday. The second match will be on February 4th.
This means that the most likely title match is between City, who are in the top two in the league, and Arsenal. It will be the last League Cup final reached by Arsenal and a rematch of the 2018 final, which City won 3-0.
Rosenia’s home debut
Rosenia is was hired last week He signed a six-year contract and won the FA Cup at the weekend.
It was Rosenior’s first real test, as it was an away game against second-division opponents Charlton Athletic, and Arsenal could have left Stamford Bridge in an advantageous position.
Instead, Garnacho’s late goal gave Chelsea hope, who were without Reece James, Cole Palmer and Maro Gusto through injury, with Moises Caicedo also absent through suspension.
“I love the energy of the team. We kept going until the end,” Rosenior said. “The way we conceded goals was frustrating, but considering the players who were absent today there were a lot of positives in the performance.”
White said Arsenal allowed Chelsea to put pressure on them in the second half. “It’s not really up to our standards,” he said.
king of set pieces
Rosenior argued: On Monday, it was argued that Arsenal shouldn’t be called ‘Set Piece FC’, referring to the team’s ability in dead ball situations, but the opening goal came from that route.
Sanchez aimed at the ball, which was swung in by Declan Rice, but the ball flew over him and Chelsea striker Joao Pedro inexplicably missed in his jumping attempt to clear. White was left with the simple task of returning home.
According to the BBC, this was Arsenal’s 24th goal from a set piece in all competitions this season, with 18 of those goals coming from corner kicks.
It was a common mistake by Sanchez, but his second mistake was even worse.
White’s ball across the front of the six-yard box should have been easily collected by the goalkeeper, but the diving ball went straight through the goalkeeper’s arms. Gökeres could not let go of his second goal since November 1st.
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Steve Douglas is https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
