KOSCIELNY & CO FIGHT BACK INTO THE LIGHT WITH VICTORY BUT SARRI IS LEFT FUMING ALONE IN THE DARK

CHELSEA manager Maurizio Sarri last night called out his players and insisted they go missing in the biggest of games. Thoroughly outplayed in the first half by a rampant Arsenal, Sarri’s Blues were out of the game after just 39 minutes.

The Stamford Bridge boss (left) blasted his stars’ performance after the final whistle, branding it ‘unacceptable’.

He said: “I’m really angry about the approach that we adopted today. “You can find yourself in difficulties from time to time, but we need to react to those difficulties a lot better than we did today.

“It’s an approach we can’t really accept. It was the same in our game against Tottenham. We thought we’d overcome that problem, but it seems we really struggle to get ourselves up for these games at times.

“I don’t mind losing but I don’t like losing in this manner.”

Chelsea could have extended their lead in fourth place to nine points over Unai Emery’s fifth-placed Gunners but that gap now stands at just three points.

Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny were enough for the hosts.

“Today we needed to win,” said Koscielny. “We made a mistake last week at West Ham so today’s game was a six-pointer.

“If we had lost we would have been nine points off Chelsea but we won so the gap will be just three points.

“We’re still in the race for the top four. I think the commitment today was amazing from all the boys.

“We showed on the pitch which way we want to go together.

“It’s good to play like this because in football it’s not easy to win.

“I’m happy to score because it’s very important for the team.

“When we talk about clean sheets it’s not just about the defenders.

“Today we showed everyone we are together. The strikers worked hard too, which helps the rest of the team.”