Mikel Arteta left Stamford Bridge pleased with both the performance and the result after Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Chelsea, but he made no attempt to dress it up as anything more than a job half done.Ben...
Mikel Arteta left Stamford Bridge pleased with both the performance and the result after Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Chelsea, but he made no attempt to dress it up as anything more than a job half done.
Ben White, Viktor Gyökeres and Martin Zubimendi scored the goals that give Arsenal a lead to take back to the Emirates Stadium next month, yet Arteta’s focus was on the chances missed at 3-1, and the late Chelsea goal that kept the contest alive.
White put Arsenal ahead early, heading in from a Declan Rice corner after poor defending inside the six-yard box. The first half remained largely scruffy, with the pace of the surface slowing Arsenal’s passing and leaving the game more disjointed than they would have wanted.
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Arsenal were far more assertive after the break.
White and Bukayo Saka combined down the right, and White’s low cross was spilled by Robert Sánchez, allowing Gyökeres to finish to make 2-0.
Chelsea pulled one back when an overload at the far post gave Alejandro Garnacho the space to score, with Kepa Arrizabalaga caught out as the ball travelled across him.
Arsenal steadied themselves again, helped by the introductions of Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino, and restored their two-goal lead when Zubimendi struck a fine third after further good work from Saka and Gyökeres.
The opportunity to kill the tie was there. Merino was denied by Sánchez with a great save, and Gabriel headed over from a corner when Arsenal looked set to make it four.
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Chelsea instead found a late second goal from a corner, again through Garnacho, after Kepa failed to claim cleanly, leaving Arsenal with a one-goal advantage rather than a more comfortable cushion.
Arteta was quick to single out White, who combined an early goal with his role in the second.
“I think we all need everybody to be at their best when we need them, and Ben certainly has stepped up tonight,” Arteta said. “Again, once more, I’m used to it, because he’s done it every time that he’s been with us, but I think individually we have some big performances tonight.”
He also felt Gyökeres gave Arsenal what they needed, both with and without the ball.
“I think he had a great game, he was a real threat constantly, really supporting the team in the way that we actually needed today, he scored the goal and he could have scored another one.”
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Zubimendi’s goal drew a similar reaction from the manager, who described it as a decisive moment in a big away performance.
“Unbelievable, it was a beautiful goal to watch,” he said. “The composure that Zubi shows, again, in and around the box, he was top class, and a goal that is very important for us.”
Still, Arteta’s verdict on the overall shape of the night was that Arsenal had put themselves in control, but had not finished the job when it was there to do.
“I’m very happy with the performance, first of all, and then the victory,” he said. “It’s a really tough place to come, they are top side, top individuals, and I think the team made another step in the manner, the determination that we want to play.
“It feels at 1-3 and the dominance that we had in the game, and the two massive chances that we missed to put the game into a very different position, but at the end, one goal is not enough.”
Category: General Sports
