Chelsea Lose to Arsenal in English League Cup Due to Two Blundering Goalkeepers

Arsenal opened the door to the English League Cup final after beating Chelsea 3-2 in the first semi-final. (X/@Carabao_Cup)

Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is indeed upset. Two blunders made Alejandro Garnacho's brace useless and Chelsea had to admit Arsenal's 3-2 lead in the first semi-final match of the English League Cup at Stamford Bridge Stadium, Thursday, January 15, 2026 WIB.

A disappointing result for Chelsea playing at home. Especially after new manager Liam Rosenior made a satisfying debut. Replacing Enzo Maresca who was fired, Rosenior led Chelsea to destroy the team from the lower division Charlton Athletic 5-1 in the third round of the FA Cup.

This big win is certainly an important capital for Chelsea when facing a tough opponent, Arsenal, in the London Derby. Arsenal is not an easy opponent. How not, The Gunners are currently perched at the top of the English Premier League standings. Meanwhile, Chelsea, which is ranked eighth, is 18 points behind Arsenal.

Arsenal also warned Chelsea before the match, manager Mikel Arteta stated his ambition to win the trophy in the Carabao Cup. Yes, while waiting for the Premier League title, which has not been won since 2004, he wants to bring Arsenal to win the third-class competition.

The reason is that during his five years at Emirates, Arteta only won the FA Cup and the Community Shield which were just the opening matches of the English League and the teams competing were not serious because they were more focused on preparing for the competition.

According to him, Arsenal was motivated by last season's failure in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. Meeting Newcastle United who later became champions, the North London club lost 4-0 on aggregate. They also always fail when they reach the semi-finals such as in the 2025 Champions League and the 2021 Europa League.

As a result, Arteta fielded the best squad when visiting Chelsea's headquarters. On the other hand, Rosenior rotated the players. However, the former Strasbourg coach had no choice but to change the composition of the players because he had lost Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Reece James, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Malo Gusto.

There are those who are injured or banned from playing so that young striker Marc Guiu, who often sits on the bench, is Rosenior's first choice as a centre forward.

Arsenal also started the match with high aggressiveness to pressure the Blues' defense. The visitors' efforts immediately bore fruit when defender Ben White broke into the Chelsea goal when the match was only seven minutes.

The goal came after Sanchez made a blunder by failing to reach the ball from Declan Rice's corner. The ball went to White who easily headed into the goal.

Behind 1-0, Chelsea immediately increased the attack to equalize the score. At least, Chelsea had two chances through Enzo Fernandez and Estevao Willian. Only their chances could be thwarted well by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who replaced David Raya. The score of one goal for Arsenal lasted until the first half ended.

Entering the second half, Chelsea started badly. Sanchez made another blunder which resulted in his goal being conceded after only five minutes of the match.

The goal started when Sanchez was about to catch White's cross. But the ball slipped out of his hands and headed to striker Viktor Gyokeres. No doubt, Gyokeres, who had previously struggled to score, was finally able to overcome his sterility.

This easy goal was the first in the last 16 matches for Gyokeres. Thus, the Swedish national team striker has only scored eight goals from 26 appearances with Arsenal since being recruited from Sporting Lisbon last year.

In a position of being 2-0 down, Rosenior brought on Garnacho and pulled out Guiu. This decision was not wrong because Garnacho was able to revive the West London team's front line.

Not only that, Garnacho managed to narrow Chelsea's deficit after scoring a goal from close range in the 57th minute. The score changed to 2-1.

But Arsenal was unstoppable. Moreover, their open game always makes it difficult for Chelsea's defense. As proven, midfielder Martin Zubimendi consolidated Arsenal's lead to 3-1 in the 71st minute.

It started with Zubimendi's individual action when he received the ball from Gyokeres in the penalty box. He had a chance to shoot the ball before launching a hard shot that defeated Sanchez.

Chelsea actually refused to surrender. When the match entered the final part, Garnacho again broke Kepa's goal to narrow the team's deficit. In the 83rd minute, his kick successfully changed the score to 3-2.

Only Chelsea could not use the remaining time to add a goal. Arsenal managed to lock the score and open the opportunity to the final to face Manchester City or Newcastle. Meanwhile, Chelsea had to work hard to turn things around in the second leg of the semi-final at Arsenal's home.