Chelsea vs Arsenal: Gunners edge closer to EFL Cup final, take slim lead into second leg

The Gunners, who are fighting on all fronts this season, took a step closer to getting their first trophy of the campaign.

Mikel Arteta's team heads into the game after their 4-1 thrashing of Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Sunday.

They defeated Chelsea 3-2 in the first leg of the cup competition, taking a goal lead to the second leg at the Emirates.

For his first game at Stamford Bridge, Liam Rosenior picked his starting eleven, but he is missing Cole Palmer and Reece James, who are not available and Moises Caicedo, who is suspended.

Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, went with his strongest starting XI, shaking things up with eight changes from their last match against Portsmouth. The Gunners have really shown off how deep their squad is.

Arsenal stunned the host just seven minutes into the game to take the lead. Declan Rice whipped in a corner kick and Ben White, who was inside the six-yard area, headed the ball into the net after Robert Sanchez misjudged the ball.

Both teams pushed around trying to create chances to get the game going, but could only finish the first half 1-0.

Arsenal entered the second half looking for the second goal and Sanchez, who was the culprit for the first goal, made another error to gift Victor Gyokeres an empty net to tap in.

The Blues pushed forward and got a goal from Alejandro Garnacho to reduce the deficit and get a possible comeback, but Martín Zubimendi added the third for the Gunners.

With just a few minutes to the end of the game, Chelsea reignited their hope of a comeback, with Garnacho scoring his second of the game.

Chelsea tried to get the equaliser, but the Gunners held their one-goal lead and secured a 3-2 win, going into the second leg.