ROSE AND FROWNS

Nacho gives Liam lifeline in a roller-coaster tie

- BY JOHN CROSS

THIS was some baptism of fire for Liam Rosenior.

And it laid bare the size of the task in front of the new Chelsea manager after his first game in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal were so much better for huge chunks of the game and even threatened to run away with the semifinal as Viktor Gyokeres got in on the action.

The striker has struggled for goals of late but scored, provided an assist and it was one of his best games in an Arsenal shirt as Mikel Arteta finally ended his semifinal curse.

But Rosenior owes a huge debt of gratitude to two-goal substitute Alejandro Garnacho for keeping Chelsea in the tie and to at least give them a fighting chance in next month’ return leg.

It was also another brilliant advert for this competition as Newcastle and Manchester City served up a cracker in their semifinal 24 hours earlier.