Chelsea – Arsenal: Garnacho Brace Gives Blues A Fighting Chance After Defeat In The First Leg Of The Carabao Cup Semi Final (2-3)

Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in Liam Rosenior’s first home game in charge of the Blues. Goals from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi sank Chelsea despite a brace from Blues substitute Alejandro Garnacho. Chelsea must now overturn the one-goal deficit at the Emirates in the second leg if they are to qualify for the Carabao Cup final.

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan.

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The Liam Rosenior era is well and truly underway at Stamford Bridge. But his first home game in charge resulted in a narrow defeat against London rivals Arsenal. Chelsea have been a club perpetually suspended in managerial turmoil ever since the Blueco ownership took over the club. And Enzo Maresca’s highly publicised fallout with the board and his subsequent sacking hasn’t helped the club, the players or the fans.


In the midst of this unsettled atmosphere, Liam Rosenior has been hired to steward the club to brighter pastures. There have been several narratives, arguments & counter-arguments about Rosenior, but he does seem like a manager who wants to win & get the best out of his players.

In this frail setting, Rosenior’s sternest test came early on in his tenure in the form of Premier League leaders Arsenal visiting the Bridge in the semi-final first leg of the Carabao Cup. It was certainly a baptism of fire for Rosenior. However, with his proactive substitutions and tactical tweaks after going 2-0 down against Mikel Arteta’s well-drilled and astutely organised Arsenal side, the English manager did stake some claims for his managerial acumen.

Arsenal looked like they were running away with the game after an archetypal Gunners set-piece routine saw Ben White score, and then a mistake from Robert Sanchez led to Viktor Gyokeres doubling Arsenal’s lead on the night. However, Rosenior turned to his bench and substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a brace sandwiched between a fantastic strike by Martin Zubimendi.

The scoreline ended 3-2 on the night, but there were several key takeaways & positives from the game as Rosenior’s more vertical build-up blueprint and some dazzling feet from Estevao & other little signals of progress & change for Chelsea were evident.


It must be said that Chelsea went into this game without three of their best players in Reece James, Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo, so it wasn’t their strongest side. But Rosenior turned to his full squad using maximum changes and a proactive reaction to going 2-0 down against arguably the current best team in England to keep the Blues in with a slender chance taking a one-goal deficit to the Emirates for the second leg.

Liam Rosenior lined Chelsea up in a 4-2-3-1 shape. Robert Sanchez started in goal with a back four of Josh Acheampong at right-back, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana at center-back and Marc Cucurella at right-back. The midfield double pivot was anchored by Andrey Santos and Enzo Fernandez as Estevao started down the right, Pedro Neto down the left with Joao Pedro as the no.10 and Marc Guiu as the lone striker up front.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta set up his Arsenal side in a 4-3-3 shape. Kepa Arrizabalaga started in goal with a back four of Ben White at right back, William Saliba and Gabriel at center-back and Jurien Timber at left-back. Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard started in the midfield three while Leandro Trossard started wide left, Bukayo Saka wide right and Viktor Gyokeres as the central striker.

Arsenal Take Two Goal Lead Despite Chelsea Possession

In their IP shape, Chelsea resorted to their familiar 3-2-5 build-up. But in this game, Liam Rosenior’s more vertical build-up progression was rather evident. This allowed Chelsea to play, albeit sparingly, through the Arsenal press, which was man-to-man and highly structured in their 4-4-2 OOP shape.

Odegaard and Rice would jump on Chelsea’s pivots of Santos & Enzo Fernandez, funnelling play into Rice’s jump zone where he could win duels. Saka shadowed Cucurella to prevent easy outlets, while Zubimendi and Saliba had license to follow & press Joao Pedro aggressively as the Chelsea no.10 dropped to link up play.

However, Chelsea did manage to play through the Arsenal press on a few occasions using verticality & rotations & one-touch passes but largely it was an even battle with Arsenal forcing turnovers as well.

Minute 9’ An occasion where Chelsea play through the Arsenal press. Joao Pedro & Neto drop under pressure from the Arsenal m2m press as Fofana feeds it into Neto who plays it first time to Joao Pedro. Neto makes a run into space as Pedro finds him. The ball progresses to Guiu as Chelsea beat Arsenal’s press successfully.

As Rosenior said in his post-match interview his Chelsea side have to still understand his build up patterns & triggers citing “Without going into too much detail, because I don’t want other teams to know, there are certain triggers, certain patterns.” While the new Blues boss also called Arsenal “the best pressing team in Europe”.

Minute 11’ Arsenal’s aggressive m2m press is triggered when Enzo makes a backpass to Fofana. Odegaard leads the press on Fofana while Gyokeres and Saka pressure the others in the Chelsea back three, i.e. Chalobah & Cucurella, while Rice jumps on Santos and Zubimendi on the dropping Joao Pedro.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s build-up was more fluid, transitioning into a 3-2-5 or even 2-3-5 when in advanced positions. The latter was when Rice, Zubimendi & Odegaard would form the midfield trio ahead of both the Arsenal center-backs. Meanwhile, both Arsenal full-backs Timber & White bombed forward with overlapping runs to create space against the Blues backline. The Arsenal full-backs were also an outball when Chelsea pressed Arsenal high up the pitch. 

Minute 35’ Arsenal build up in a 2-3-5. Both Arsenal CBs Gabriel and Saliba stay in the back line while the Gunners midfielders Zubimendi, Rice & Odegaard occupy the central areas. Meanwhile, the FBs White & Timber push high & wide to maintain width alongside the Arsenal front three.

In their 3-2-5 Zubimendi would drop to link up play from the back, while Rice and Odegaard rotated fluidly, with Odegaard often drifting right to overload the flank with Saka, creating triangles that pulled Chelsea’s midfield apart. Gyokeres, meanwhile, served as a focal point, dropping deep to link play and drag Fofana or Chalobah out of position. This allowed Arsenal to bypass Chelsea’s press efficiently, using short, sharp passes to progress through the thirds.

Overall, it was an even affair with respect to both sides’ build-up play. However, Chelsea edged possession with 55% of the ball in the first half.

The game exploded into life in the seventh minute when Arsenal took the lead from a set-piece, which has been one of their hallmark strengths this season. Declan Rice’s pinpoint corner found Ben White unmarked in the six-yard box after Sanchez was poorly positioned and the Chelsea backline couldn’t clear. White nodded home to make it 1-0 exposing Chelsea’s zonal marking flaws and Sanchez’s hesitancy

Things got worse as the second half began disastrously for Chelsea, with Arsenal extending their lead in the 49th minute. Ben White’s cross from the right slipped through Sanchez’s grasp, allowing Gyokeres to tap in from close range.

Rosenior’s Bench Effect While Estevao Shines But Without Output

In their OOP shape, Chelsea dropped into a 4-4-2 mid-block with the wingers tucking in to form a narrow shape, protecting the central areas. Joao Pedro would drop alongside the pivots to create a 4-5-1 at times, which focused on denying space for Arsenal between the lines.

However, Enzo Fernandez in the pivot created space for Arsenal to exploit. Fernandez would dictate the game in certain instances in his deeper role, but Arsenal’s intensity & midfield trio exposed the defensive side of Enzo’s game, as he found it difficult to cope defensively against the Gunners midfield progression.

Chelsea’s OOP tactics were centered around absorbing pressure and then countering, targeting Arsenal’s defense via transitions through Neto and Estevao. While in build-up Chelsea often played vertically and directly whether that was via rotations with short passes and then a line breaking pass or direct passes breaking the lines. It’s evident that there’s clearly been an emphasis on more verticality in Chelsea’s build-up and counter-attacking phases under Rosenior.

Minute 30’ Chelsea’s verticality in build-up. Fofana plays a direct pass into Guiu breaking the Arsenal pressing lines.

A lot of the talk post-game was about Estevao and his natural ability to beat players. The Brazilian sensation was effective in that respect giving Timber a torrid time, however, the 18-year-old lacked in output & his final ball. Too often he looked rather one-dimensionally to cut onto his left foot & strike at goal instead of finding a cross or pass. But considering his young age, he will have time to learn and that being said he was arguably a potent output for Chelsea with two of his shots at goal being blocked by the Arsenal defence and one superb save from Kepa.


However, the Blues would find more purchase with Garnacho catching Ben White out of position on the opposite flank. Rosenior reacted by substituting Alejandro Garnacho in for Guiu in the 55th minute, injecting the Argentine wideman’s pace and directness. The impact was almost immediate. In the 57th minute, Neto’s cross from the right evaded White and Fernandez, finding Garnacho at the far post who managed to reduce the deficit with a composed finish beating Kepa.

The goal sprang about from Chelsea’s improved transitions, with Fernandez finding Neto in space after winning a second ball.

That poised the game at 2-1 with all to play for for both sides.

Rosenior then used all his substitutes, shuffling the defense and attack for fresh legs and impetus. It was certainly a proactive form of management from Rosenior, who reacted to the 2-0 scoreline to freshen things up, something that Enzo Maresca sparingly & reluctantly did.

Zubimendi Nets Winner But Garnacho Pulls One Back

Arsenal’s OOP formation was a flexible 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1, with Zubimendi & Rice rotating as to who was anchoring to screen the back four but occupying the midfield pivot in the 4-4-2 OOP shape. This also became a 4-2-4 OOP shape in certain instances with again Rice & Zubimendi in the midfield pivot.

Arsenal then restored their two-goal cushion in the 71st minute through Zubimendi’s classy finish. Saka cut inside to find Gunners substitute Merino, who laid it off to Gyokeres. The Arsenal frontman’s pull-back found Zubimendi unmarked & the Spaniard left the Chelsea defense floored after a body feint & scored to make it 3-1.

Chelsea fought back again in the 83rd minute with Garnacho netting his second from a corner scramble, volleying home at the far post to make it 3-2. This kept the tie alive, thanks to Garnacho’s brace off the bench, but Arsenal spurned chances to kill the game as well as Sanchez was forced into saves.

However, the Chelsea comeback wouldn’t be complete. The Blues probed Arsenal late on, but couldn’t fashion a decisive chance or score as the game ended 3-2 to the Gunners on the night as they continued their fine run of form against Chelsea.

Takeaways

This was a proper baptism of fire for Liam Rosenior in his first home game in charge of Chelsea. Arsenal won the game, but by slender margins & there were plenty of positives to take away from the game when it came to the Chelsea players’ performance and Rosenior’s own reaction to make telling substitutions with the game at 2-0. Garnacho’s brace off the bench did the trick for the Blues as the Argentine winger keep Chelsea in the tie.

For Arteta & Arsenal this was yet another victory against Chelsea whom the Gunners haven’t lost to in over eight recent encounters. Arsenal’s set piece efficiency once again got them the breakthrough while rapid wide play & interchanges brought them the other goals. They now take a narrow 1-0 lead to the Emirates where they are favourites to close out the tie and qualify for the Carabao Cup final.