MX23RW : Thursday, March 28 11:07:26| >> :120:5200:5200:
[monks data]
Attendance: 59,979
Arsenal logo
Premier League | Gameweek 23
Jan 19, 2019 at 5.30pm UK
 
Chelsea logo

2-0

Lacazette (14'), Koscielny (39')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Chelsea must use Arsenal defeat as motivation – Marcos Alonso

Chelsea must use Arsenal defeat as motivation – Marcos Alonso
© Reuters
The Gunners ran out deserved 2-0 winners on Saturday.

Marcos Alonso insists Chelsea must use their defeat at Arsenal as motivation – after Blues boss Maurizio Sarri slammed his players following their performance at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners ran out deserved 2-0 winners on Saturday as Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny scored first-half goals for Unai Emery's side.

The Premier League victory takes Arsenal within three points of fourth-placed Chelsea, while a resurgent Manchester United are also the same distance away from the Champions League positions.

Sarri launched an unexpected rant at his players in his post-match press conference.

Speaking in his native Italian, an angry Sarri accused his squad of being "extremely difficult" to motivate.

But Alonso is keen to use the Arsenal display to act as that motivation in the coming weeks.

"It was a good opportunity," he told Chelsea's official website.

"We wasted it and now we have to work even harder to stay in a Champions League position and win games. It has to motivate us."

The Spain full-back believes "silly" errors led to the loss and knows the players need to respond immediately as they head into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday, trailing 1-0 to Tottenham on aggregate.

"We made silly mistakes," he added. "We provoked them to gain confidence and come to press us because we were making mistakes.

"In the second half we tried but it was too late and we couldn't score.

"When you lose, you learn. We have to analyse the game and improve quickly because there is no time to think. We have to perform again in four days."

While Chelsea's motivation was called into question, Granit Xhaka praised the collective character of the Arsenal players, who got back to winning ways after losing at West Ham.

"We had a difficult game against West Ham and we knew that if we didn't win today it (finishing in the top four) would be difficult," he said.

"But we showed amazing character and team spirit. They also didn't score against us, so we are happy to take the three points.

"We said before the game that if you don't fight and you don't win the duels then it will be difficult because Chelsea have a good team."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Mark Mann-Bryans, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'bed53360-e3e0-4016-84a1-4a6026c6d696');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Chelsea must use Arsenal defeat as motivation \u2013 Marcos Alonso'});

ID:347395: cacheID:347395:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7750:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Reading's Stephen Hunt and Chelsea's Petr Cech in August 2007
Read Next:
Hunt pleased by "gentleman" Cech's response to clash
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!