LIAM ROSENIOR got involved in a full-time scuffle as he held back Enzo Fernandez in his confrontation with an Arsenal star.
The new Chelsea boss oversaw a 3-2 defeat in his first home match in charge.
Tensions boiled over at the final whistle with players pushing and shoving each other.
Fernandez appeared particularly aggrieved at Arsenal goalscorer Martin Zubimendi and the pair exchanged feisty words before Gabriel’s intervention.
That did not calm tempers however and Fernandez again approached the Spaniard after Pedro Neto had pushed him away.
Fernandez grabbed Zubimendi by the neck and launched more verbals at his face before Rosenior stepped in to separate them.
‘shambolic’
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The Chelsea head coach could be seen shouting as he tried to restore calm admist a melee of players.
Substitutes and a member of Arsenal’s backroom staff were also invovled in the fracas, which appeared to be centred on just two players.
Even Zubimendi seemed nonplussed by the situation as he laughed off Fernandez’s approach.
The Spain midfielder scored Arsenal’s third goal with a composed finish.
It came after goalkeeper Robert Sanchez produced two howlers to allow Ben White and Viktor Gyokeres to score.
Alejandro Garnacho sparked hopes of a comeback after scoring twice off the bench, but Mikel Arteta’s side now boast a slender advantage ahead of the second leg at the beginning of February.
Rosenopr said afterwards: “I was proud of the bravery of the players to try to execute certain aspects of what I’ve asked.
“I’ve been in for six days and we’ve had two matches. I’m not asking for time because I think the group is good enough to win now, but I need to put my stamp on the team as well. Otherwise, there’s no point me being here.”
Chelsea ratings v Arsenal
LIAM Rosenior’s hopes of taking an advantage to the Emirates for the second leg of this Carabao Cup semi-final were hit by blunder keeper Robert Sanchez.
The keeper cost the Blues two goals, but they did fight back to make it just a 3-2 loss and keep their Wembley dreams alive.
So who else had a night to forget, and who will have put themselves firmly in the new boss’s thoughts when he picks his next team?
Read SunSport’s Dan King’s player ratings right here to find out.
Read the full article here
