Alejandro Garnacho scored twice in Chelsea’s 3-2 loss to Arsenal (Image: Getty)
Alejandro Garnacho has responded emphatically to being left on the bench for Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Arsenal. The former Manchester United forward scored twice in just 37 minutes after coming off the bench at Stamford Bridge, breathing life into the Blues’ hopes in the draw.
Arsenal held a comfortable lead with goals from Ben White and Victor Gokeres, but Garnacho pulled one back with a fine finish at the far post. Martin Zvimendi restored the Gunners’ two-goal cushion, but Garnacho scored again to end the first leg 3-2.
Chelsea travel to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg next month and Garnacho will be reflecting on both the upcoming game and his contribution as a substitute, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The Argentine seems to have improved considerably during his time at Chelsea, bringing in new prospects, with recent interviews revealing his personality and acceptance that he won’t start every starting XI.
“I always try to do my best and today I contributed to the goal off the bench,” Garnacho told Chelsea’s club website. “Every attacker wants to score goals, but my job is to help the team. Sometimes I play from the start, sometimes I don’t. The players on the bench are just as important as the players in the first eleven and I just tried to do my best.”
“I think we are still at that stage. The game is open and the difference is only one goal. We know how difficult it is to play at the Emirates, but we know our team and we know what we are capable of. We have to go there and give everything.”
“We always aim to win games, but it’s frustrating when you don’t win games. We started a little slow, but we were much better in the second half. Now we have to try everything in the second leg.”
Garnacho has had a difficult start to life in west London and Chelsea are already considering further attacking reinforcements, despite bringing him and Jamie Gittens to the club last summer.
The Blues made inquiries about Antoine Semenyo, but decided not to proceed with a deal with Bournemouth before a move to Manchester City materialized.
Alejandro Garnacho leaves Manchester United in the summer to join Chelsea (Image: Getty)
According to The Athletic, Chelsea have “already indicated” that adding another forward remains a top priority in the summer window, given the inconsistent form of Garnacho, Pedro Neto and Gittens. However, the former United player provided an ideal response to Chelsea’s transfer strategy with his brace on Wednesday night.
Garnacho was asked if he had any regrets about leaving United, to which he simply answered “no”, despite a significant turnover of players, with Noni Madue leaving for Arsenal two-and-a-half years after joining from PSV.
Garnacho later explained: “Sometimes in life you need to change things in order to take a step forward or improve as a player. It was the right time and the right club. So the decision was easy.”
The Argentina international was left out of manager Ruben Amorim’s pre-season preparations and has since been included in United’s ‘bomb squad’ alongside Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony and Tyrell Malasia.
Chelsea paid £40 million for Garnacho, but his contract included a 10 per cent sell-on clause, which could very well be triggered given Chelsea’s market strategy.
The 21-year-old remained on the bench during his first return to Old Trafford, with United winning 2-1. Now under manager Michael Carrick, Garnacho are scheduled to face their former team at Stamford Bridge in mid-April.
