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The main talking points from Chelsea's Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg with Arsenal where the Blues were defeated 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in Liam Rosenior's first home match in charge
Chelsea have a mountain to climb if they are to reach the Carabao Cup final after being beaten 3-2 at home to Arsenal in the first-leg of the semi-final on Wednesday night.
Ben White gave the Gunners an early lead. Predictably, via a corner. Robert Sanchez came out to try and meet the cross but wasn't able to and White was the beneficiary, heading into the back of the net in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.
Estevao Willian had a shot saved later in the first-half but Chelsea were restricted to very little in terms of chances in the opening 45 minutes. Early in the second-half, the Gunners doubled their advantage in west London.
White's low cross looked easy enough for Sanchez to gather but the goalkeeper fumbled it and it allowed Viktor Gyokeres a tap-in in front of the away supporters at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea reduced the deficit back to one not long after when Alejandro Garnacho struck in from Pedro Neto's cross.
Arsenal restored their two-goal advantage on 71 minutes with Gyokeres this time assisting. The striker laid the ball off to Martin Zubimendi, who skipped through the Chelsea defence before firing past a helpless Sanchez.
Garnacho was on hand to get Chelsea back into it late on with a fine finish after Neto's corner beat everyone. The Gunners held on, meaning they take a 3-2 lead going into the second-leg at the beginning of next month.
Rosenior learns harsh lesson
After taking charge of his first game as Chelsea head coach over the weekend, Rosenior made nine changes from the side that won against Charlton Athletic, with Josh Acheampong, Andrey Santos and Marc Guiu the only ones that survived from Saturday's victory. Guiu was involved right from the off, getting involved in physical tussles with Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes continuously.
Arsenal took the lead early on with White heading in from a corner. Sanchez seemed to be impeded by his own players when coming out to get the ball and in turn, missed it and White headed into an empty net in front of him.
The Gunners, of course, are such a threat from corners and it felt like every time they got one at Stamford Bridge, that Chelsea were in trouble. Sanchez looked nervy to come out and claim them, especially after the early goal.
It wasn't just set-pieces that Arsenal were causing problems for Chelsea from. The visitors had the hosts penned back at times with their press. Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and Sanchez were all very unconvincing with their passing out of the back and kept gifting it to the Gunners.
It happened far too often. Some in Stamford Bridge were venting their anger towards Rosenior but there was very little he could do until the half-time whistle. The Blues were too passive and slow in possession and Arsenal had their opponents right where they wanted them.
Just before half-time, Chelsea decided to go long from a goal kick, with some of the fans behind in the Matthew Harding sarcastically cheering the decision. It needed to be done.
Going the other way, Chelsea were limited to very little in the first-half. The Blues were unable to find Estevao Willian, making his first start under Rosenior, very often. It felt like one of Chelsea's most effective routes of breaking such a strong Arsenal defence down was by trying to get the Brazilian magician involved as much as possible. One of the only times they did came around half an hour in, but the winger saw his shot saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Rosenior made no changes at the half-time break with the hope his XI could turn things around. That was made much more difficult, though, when Gyokeres tapped in after a Sanchez mistake just minutes into the second period of the first-leg.
The west Londoners found a route back into the tie when substitute Garnacho struck past Kepa. The momentum did swing in Chelsea's favour after that with the home supporters riled up following Garnacho's goal. Though it was still difficult for the Blues to create too much in the way of clear-cut chances.
Arsenal had the next big chance of the game and found a third goal. Zubimendi found some space in the Chelsea box and skipped through the defence before he smashed the ball into the corner. Garnacho ensured there is only one goal between the two sides in the second-leg after firing the ball into the back of the net following Neto's corner.
Chelsea had injuries, granted, a lot of them, in fact, but Arsenal looked in a different league to the Blues in big chunks of the evening. The fact it is only 3-2 is a positive for Chelsea given how the game played out.
Sanchez lets Chelsea down
The second-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final takes place at the Emirates Stadium on February 3. For Chelsea, the mission has become really difficult.
Rosenior will be hoping he has some of his big hitters back by then like Cole Palmer and Reece James. Chelsea are hopeful Palmer will be back for this weekend's clash with Brentford, while less is known on James.
Sanchez was poor for Chelsea on Wednesday evening. The Spaniard was not great for the opening goal, but he can be slightly forgiven for that due to the positioning of some of his players, who blocked him from claiming the ball. The second goal, however, is more difficult to forgive straight away.
The ball from White is nothing special. It should be gathered easily but Sanchez makes a real mess of it and Gyokeres is gifted the easiest goal he will ever score.
After shining under Enzo Maresca in the first half of the season, Sanchez took a big step back on Wednesday evening. Let's hope it's nothing that will impact him in the long-term because before the defeat to Arsenal, he was making real strides.
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