Konsa: ‘Buzzing to make my debut’ as Arsenal beat Chelsea
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 06: Ezri Konsa of Arsenal holds off Morgan Rogers of Chelsea during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC at Emirates Stadium on September 06, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Ezri Konsa commented on his full debut for Arsenal as his new side defeated Chelsea 2-1.
The defender was signed for a fee of £51 million from Aston Villa a fortnight ago, being unveiled to fans at the Emirates Stadium as the Premier League champions crushed Coventry City 3-0.
He was then called upon for the final fifteen minutes of normal time against his old club at Villa Park when Cristhian Mosquera went down with a knock late in the game on Monday evening. The Spanish defender was a doubt for this fixture, so Mikel Arteta decided to start the 28-year-old.
A high bar in the Arsenal backline
There are extremely high standards for Konsa to meet: he walked into the backline of the team with the best defensive record in the division for the last three years as a replacement for William Saliba.
Things started badly for the hosts as they conceded a strike from Konsa’s old club teammate Morgan Rogers, but Arsenal exhibited their resilience and deservedly equalised through Kai Havertz.
Konsa was flagged for being offside when Riccardo Calafiori had netted in the 11th minute, but he made up for that moment with a crunching tackle to obstruct Rogers on the transition.
He was happy to be handed playing time at his new home, but was, first and foremost, pleased with the points.
‘We reacted fantastically’
"I felt at home since the first moment I joined, the boys have been top, the staff have been top. Buzzing to make my debut at home and three points is the most important.
“[Going behind] is part of football, it's all about how you react. Over here I know we are big on clean sheets but we reacted fantastically.
“[The tackle] got the crowd going. If you get it wrong it is bad but if you get it right it's always a good feeling. On another day I think we score three or four."