Arsenal will take a narrow advantage into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final after a frantic 3-2 first-leg win at Chelsea.

Goals from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi saw the Gunners take victory at Stamford Bridge, but Alejandro Garnacho struck on two occasions after coming off the bench.

But Arsenal will have belief they are on track to reach Wembley, and end Mikel Arteta's record of losing their last four two-legged semi-final ties on the spin.

Liam Rosenior's first home game in charge of Chelsea ended in defeat, but he will have hope of a reversal in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, which takes place in three weeks on Tuesday February 3.

Rosenior was greeted by warm applause before kick-off, but optimism of a good start vanished after seven minutes as White headed the opener from a trademark Declan Rice delivery from a corner.

Somewhat contentiously, there was a brief VAR check for offside, with Gyokeres potentially interefering on the line as the ball sailed past him. But while it took several minutes to disallow Antoine Semenyo's goal for Man City in a similar incident in the other semi-final, this one was checked and cleared within seconds.

Arsenal then took firm control of the tie on 49 minutes as Gyokeres bundled in from close range after Robert Sanchez failed to gather White's cross and it spilled into the striker's path for just his second goal since the start of November.

After the game he acknowledged the criticism in recent weeks for not having the right instincts in the box for a striker. "That's what I need to do," he told Sky Sports. "I can do it more often."

Rosenior responded with immediate changes, and one of his substitutes, Garnacho, fired Chelsea back into the game after Pedro Neto's cross landed at his feet at the far post just before the hour.

Zubimendi restored Arsenal's two-goal advantage on 71 minutes as he slammed in after combining well with Gyokeres, but Garnacho responded again to give Chelsea hope heading into the second leg.

'Arsenal will be kicking themselves'

Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp:

"The late goal has put a nice complexion on it from a Chelsea point of view and for Liam Rosenior.

"Arsenal will be kicking themselves. It could be dead and buried. But fair play to Chelsea they hung in there."

Teams

Chelsea Sanchez; Acheampong (Badiashile 53), Fofana (Hato 75), Chalobah, Cucurella (Tosin 81); Andrey Santos, Fernandez (c); Estevao, Joao Pedro (Mheuka 81), Neto; Guiu (Garnacho 53)
Subs Not Used Jorgensen, Essugo, Buonanotte, George
Booked Estevao, Cucurella, Badiashile
Goals Garnacho 57, 83

Arsenal Kepa; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Rice (Havertz 82), Zubimendi, Saka, Odegaard (c) (Merino 68, Trossard (Martinelli 67); Gyokeres (Jesus 82)
Subs Not Used Raya, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Eze, Madueke
Booked Trossard, Kepa, Merino
Goals White 7, Gyokeres 49, Zubimendi 71

Attendance 39,243

Referee Simon Hooper

VAR