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Liam Rosenior says Chelsea 'didn't find that quality moment' in Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Arsenal
So close, but just too far for Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
After losing the first leg 3-2 to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, the Blues found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 score at the Emirates in the second leg on Tuesday, eliminating Chelsea from the competition.
It's a particularly cruel way to go for the club, who played their first match under manager Liam Rosenior in the first leg and pushed the current Premier League leaders to the limit in both matches despite the 4-2 aggregate.
In Tuesday's match, Chelsea caught Arsenal off-guard with a formation switch, and it kept the visitors in the game until the dying moments as Kai Havertz sealed the victory with the game's only goal deep into stoppage time. It was an unfortunate end for the Blues, who had thrown everyone forward in search of a late goal and had actually attempted more shots than the winning side.
All that was missing was a special moment, Rosenior said.
"We dominated the areas we wanted to in the second half, but we didn't find that quality moment," the Chelsea manager told ITV.
"When you're pushing as we were, we put both defenders in the box and in the last few minutes of injury time that [conceding a late goal] can always happen.
"Arsenal know they were in for a game today, over both ties. I think there are clear improvements from the first leg to the second. Yes, it's painful to lose - you want to go through. We just need to keep making improvements - which I'm seeing."
Rosenior also revealed that Chelsea were dealing with some hardship ahead of the first leg, but he prefers to look at the strides made by the team — both in the two legs against Arsenal and in the weeks since he took over the reins.
"In the first leg, I'm not making excuses, but we had an illness go through the camp on the day of the game - we had four players missing - and I'd been in charge for three days," he said. "I cannot fault the application, intensity or the fight of the players.
"What we need to do is remember this is the start and I'm really, really happy with a lot of things I'm seeing. You want to get the results - but we need to make sure we rest and recover and we keep improving as we go."
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