Chelsea 2 – 3 Arsenal

Arsenal will go into the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final with a close margin after an exciting 3-2 first leg win against Chelsea.

The Gunners won at Stamford Bridge with goals from Ben White, Victor Gokeres and Martin Zvimendi, but substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored twice.

But Arsenal believe they are on track to reach Wembley and end Mikel Arteta’s run of losing their last four semi-finals on a spin.

Liam Rosenior’s first home game in charge of Chelsea ended in defeat, but he will be hoping for a turnaround in the second leg, to be played three weeks later at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday 3 February.

Gokeres scores to put Gunners in the lead with equal points.

Rosenior was greeted with warm applause before kick-off, but any optimism that White would get off to a good start was dampened seven minutes later when White headed in his trademark Declan Rice from a corner kick to open the scoring.

Somewhat controversially, there was a possibility that Gokeres interfered with the line as the ball passed in front of him, leading to a brief VAR check for offside. However, in a similar incident in the other semi-final, Man City’s Antoine Semenyo’s goal took several minutes to be disallowed, whereas this one was checked and cleared within seconds.

Arsenal took control of the tie in the 49th minute when Gokeres scored from close range when Roberto Sanchez failed to pick up White’s cross, but his cross spilled into the striker’s path for his second goal since early November.

After the match, he admitted that there had been criticism in recent weeks that he didn’t have the right instincts as a striker in the box. “That’s what I have to do,” he told Sky Sports. “We can do this more often.”

Rosenior was quick to make substitutions, with substitute Garnacho pulling Chelsea back into the game just before the break after Pedro Neto’s cross fell at the foot of the far post.

Zubimendi restored Arsenal’s two-goal advantage in the 71st minute with a combination with Gokeres, but Garnacho responded again to give Chelsea hope for the second leg.

Watch all five goals in the Stamford Bridge thriller

‘Arsenal will self-destruct’

Jamie Redknapp of Sky Sports:

“The second-half goal set a good tone for Liam Rosenior, both from a Chelsea point of view.

“Arsenal will self-destruct. They could be dead and buried. But fair play to Chelsea, they persevered there.”

“A special night for Gokeres”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:

“Victor has shown extraordinary talent in many areas. Of course, his best quality is putting the ball in the back of the net, and today he was in that position many times. When the ball landed in the right area, he did what he had to do.”

Jamie Redknapp of Sky Sports:

“It was a good night for him. It was a special night. I think a lot of the time the crosses he was getting were mainly from his right-footed right wing-back and his left-footed left wing-back.”

“The big problem when he plays for Arsenal is that Bukayo Saka plays on the right and is left-footed, so when Bukayo gets into that position he wants to cut back instead of shooting into the face of goal.

“That’s where the frustration comes from.”

Rosseniol happy despite defeat, insists Chelsea are still a draw

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior:

“I asked for energy, pressing, running backs and helping the team. I’m very happy with that aspect. I’m not happy with the result, I’m not happy with the way we conceded goals.”

“But the players didn’t give up and we still drew.

“We have to be stronger in the moment and we will work on that. Even if we score one goal, conceding two goals from the restart is unacceptable. That’s an area where we need to clean up.”

“I’ve only been in the team for six days and now I have to learn quickly because I want to win games, but I’m still in this position and it’s only half-time.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game. We have four games before then and I’m looking forward to the return match because we’ll know more about the team. If we show the same fighting style, intensity and quality and switch at the key moments, we still have a chance to go ahead.”

Arteta: The job is not done yet

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:

“We came here with a team of quality in every department and what we did throughout the game was very impressive. We showed our dominance, scored three goals and had two big chances to score the fourth. They scored in moments that changed the game a little bit, but overall I’m very happy. We could have been better.”

“Sometimes you have to give credit to your opponent. They have players who can unlock duels and charge at you, and that’s their ability.

“They opened up the game. Their position and height made them more dangerous when we lost the ball or when they won the second ball or duel. At the same time, they were more exposed.

“I’m happy with tonight. It’s time to start preparing for the next game.”