07/09/2026
🧱🔴⚪ EZRI KONSA — NEW STEEL AT THE EMIRATES!
There are games where a centre-back does not need a goal or an assist to become one of the biggest talking points.
Sometimes, it is enough to be in the right place, win your duels and step up when the team needs you most.
Ezri Konsa did exactly that against Chelsea.
📊 Konsa’s numbers:
⏱️ 90 minutes
👟 56 touches
✅ 41/43 passes completed
💪 8 duels won
🧹 6 clearances
♻️ 5 recoveries
🪡 4 line-breaking passes
🛡️ 3 tackles
😤 And most importantly: one huge last-man challenge
Playing as the right-sided centre-back alongside Gabriel, Konsa was handed a demanding role.
With Arsenal pushing their defensive line high, Mikel Arteta was prepared to leave his new English defender isolated in one-v-one situations against João Pedro.
And for the most part, Konsa dealt with those battles with remarkable composure.
No panic.
No diving into challenges recklessly.
He kept his distance, read the attacker’s movement and waited for the right moment to step in.
🔥 But the moment that truly brought the Emirates to its feet came in the 56th minute.
Arsenal lost possession and Cole Palmer immediately slipped a pass through for Rogers to break into space down the left.
For a split second, the Gunners’ back line was completely exposed, and Konsa was almost the last man standing between the attacker and Arsenal’s goal.
Rogers pushed the ball slightly too far ahead.
Konsa exploded across the ground, closed the gap and launched into an almost perfectly timed sliding tackle.
Ball gone. Man stopped.
The Emirates erupted. 👏
After the game, Arteta described it as an “English tackle” — and it was difficult to imagine a more fitting description.
Power.
Commitment.
Timing.
Precision.
Everything you want from a defender in one moment.
But Konsa’s impact was not limited to his own penalty area.
As early as the 12th minute, he was involved in a set-piece situation that ended with Riccardo Calafiori putting the ball into Chelsea’s net.
Unfortunately, VAR ruled that Konsa had been in an offside position and the goal was disallowed.
Then, in the 72nd minute, the English centre-back came close again.
From Bukayo Saka’s corner, Konsa rose highest and powered a header towards goal.
Only a sharp reaction on the line from Emiliano Martínez denied him his first Arsenal goal.
Two major threats from set pieces.
And at the other end:
8 duels won.
6 clearances.
5 recoveries.
3 tackles.
That is an incredibly complete defensive performance.
And perhaps even more encouraging was Konsa’s quality in possession.
Completing 41 of 43 passes, while also playing four line-breaking passes, showed that he is not simply a defender who can win his battles.
He is also comfortable enough on the ball to contribute to Arsenal’s build-up from deep — something that is virtually non-negotiable for a centre-back in Arteta’s system.
❤️🤍 These are still only the first steps of Konsa’s Arsenal journey, but he is already showing many of the qualities this defence needs:
Quick. Strong. Composed. Decisive. And completely comfortable being left in one-v-one situations.
If this is the version of Konsa we are going to see regularly this season, then Arteta may just have found another true warrior to stand alongside Gabriel.
🧱 Ezri Konsa — 90 minutes to prove that when Arsenal need one final wall between the opposition and goal, he is ready to be that man. 🔴⚪