Xabi Alonso praises Chelsea’s character despite Arsenal defeat

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso said his players showed “spirit and attitude” in their 2-1 Premier League defeat by Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Chelsea took an early lead through £117m summer signing Morgan Rogers, who struck in the second minute after Arsenal failed to clear Reece James’ free-kick. The forward’s volley ended the reigning champions’ clean-sheet run at the beginning of the campaign.

Arsenal responded with sustained pressure and came close to an equaliser when Bukayo Saka was denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. The hosts eventually levelled in the 25th minute through former Chelsea striker Kai Havertz.

Martin Odegaard completed Arsenal’s comeback five minutes into the second half. Havertz’s clever dummy created the opening for Odegaard, who scored his second Premier League goal in three matches.

Chelsea remained a threat after falling behind. James tested Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, while Pedro Neto hit the post. Substitute Estevao looked to have secured a point for the visitors late in the match, but Raya produced an outstanding fingertip save to prevent an equaliser.

The defeat leaves Alonso focusing on the reaction of his players rather than allowing the result to affect Chelsea’s outlook during the early stages of the season.

“We are disappointed. It needs to hurt, but it needs to hurt in a positive way, because it’s just game three, still many games to play and we know it was going to be a very intense game today,” said Alonso.

Chelsea had made a strong start at Emirates Stadium and created opportunities after Arsenal moved in front, but Alonso acknowledged that his side needed to become more effective in important moments.

“[We] have done many right things [but] we need to make it better, we need to learn from them, because this is the top level. When we have to play top level, we want to be as efficient and as accurate in all the phases of the game.

The match was only Chelsea’s third under Alonso as he begins a new phase with the club. Despite the setback, the manager was encouraged by the effort and commitment shown by his squad.

“But this is where we are, this is game three for us of this new start, this new phase that we are starting with Chelsea. But I’m happy with the spirit and the attitude from the players. They have given everything, they have tried and they fought really hard.

Alonso said Chelsea’s immediate objective was to improve their performances in several areas, including their finishing, defensive organisation and overall balance.

“My priority is to win games [so] we want to do better, we want to be tighter, to be more clinical, more balanced. But this takes time as well. [It’s] going to be a long [season] and [this game] doesn’t have a big impact in our mood and in our mindset.”

Chelsea’s next steps will come during what Alonso expects to be a long campaign, with the manager insisting that the narrow defeat by Arsenal would not undermine the team’s confidence or change its approach.