Football
Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent 6y

Antonio Conte laments lack of options after 'decisive' Willian injury

Antonio Conte pointed to the lack of options on Chelsea's substitutes' bench after his side fell to Arsenal 2-1 in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

A goalless draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago ensured both teams went into the second leg with realistic hopes of facing Manchester City in the final at Wembley next month, and Eden Hazard gave Chelsea the perfect start when he slotted past David Ospina in the seventh minute.

But their lead lasted just five minutes before Nacho Monreal's header deflected off Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger on its way into the Chelsea net, and Granit Xhaka poked in Arsenal's winner on the hour mark after pouncing on another unwitting deflection from Rudiger.

Chelsea's attacking threat faded after half-time and Conte claimed this was due to the fact that he had been forced to take off Willian after half an hour because of a hamstring tweak, with Ross Barkley coming on to make his Blues debut.

"I think we started very well, played a good first half," Conte told Sky Sports. "Also in the second half I saw a lot of balance. Then when there is an injury to one of your best players [Willian] it's not simple, also because on the bench the only substitution was Barkley."

In his postmatch news conference, the Chelsea head coach added: "I think Willian's injury was decisive. We don't have many players to make [attacking] substitutions.

"I was a bit forced to play with Barkley. He's a really good player and important or Chelsea but needs bit of time to get used to playing for us."

Deprived of Alvaro Morata (back) and Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) for the match due to injury, Conte opted to deploy Hazard as a false nine flanked by Willian and Pedro Rodriguez rather than pick Michy Batshuayi, who performed impressively in Saturday's 4-0 win over Brighton.

Batshuayi replaced Pedro in the 65th minute with Chelsea chasing an equaliser, but failed to make an impact. Academy youngster Charly Musonda, who set up the Blues' fourth goal against Brighton as a late substitute, was left out of Conte's matchday squad.

Instead it was Barkley who was called to make his first competitive appearance of the season following a lengthy recovery from a serious hamstring injury.

"He has a lot of space for improvement," Conte said of the Englishman to Sky Sports. "He's working with us only two weeks. For sure today I was forced to make this substitution, but at the same time he can improve a lot.

"There is disappointment for the final result, but I think I must be pleased for the effort of all my players. We tried to reach the final. We conceded two unlucky goals -- two deflections are very difficult to see during a game. It's a pity because we had a good run in this competition."

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