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'Amazing' Arsenal break semi-final curse, advance to Carabao Cup final
Arsenal will play for at least one trophy this season.
The Gunners advanced to the Carabao Cup final by defeating Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates on Tuesday, earning a 4-2 aggregate victory over the Blues. It's the first of what the club hopes will be several opportunities to lift silverware this season, as the north London side also lead the Premier League and topped the league phase of the Champions League, and they are also still alive in the FA Cup.
Tuesday's match was a cagey affair between two evenly-matched sides, with visiting Chelsea throwing a new formation at their hosts and denying much opportunity to create chances. It wasn't until the dying moments of stoppage time, with Chelsea throwing bodies forward, that Arsenal were able to find the back of the net through former Blues forward Kai Havertz, who found himself one-on-one with Robert Sanchez before deftly stepping around the Chelsea goalkeeper and slotting into the empty net.
The result means the Gunners have now broken a recent semi-final curse that saw them lose each of their last four matches at this stage of various cup competitions, and Mikel Arteta believes his side were deserving victors in front of an appreciative home crowd.
"We knew it was going to be a real battle out there," the Arsenal manager told ITV. "That resilience, that clarity to understand what kind of game we had to play, we did that so well.
"There was a special atmosphere inside our stadium. It makes such a difference. We've been waiting a few years to get into this position and we're certainly going to enjoy it."
The Gunners were actually outshot by their visitors, although the Blues didn't manage to really put any scare into goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga — another former Chelsea player — and the teams finished with the same number of attempts on target.
Regardless, the match at times resembled a chess match more than the free-flowing football both sides are capable of playing, and Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice thinks that was an intentional tactic by Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior.
"Credit to Chelsea to be fair," Rice said. "Since their new manager has come in they've been really, really good.
"They changed the formation tonight and gave us problems. On another night they could have scored but credit where it is due, our defence was incredible.
"We have a group who really want it. Whatever team comes at us, we're ready for it. When you play a team like Chelsea they throw so many things at you physically and mentally.
"You've got to have that resilience to stay strong and keep going.
"We deserve it. The last three or four years we've been at the top of the Premier League competing and got really close but haven't been good enough.
"That's why this season we have that extra desire and fire in our bellies to go one step further in every competition. There's a long way to go but to be a cup final with this club is amazing."
Arsenal await the winner of the other semi-final between Manchester City and Newcastle, with the Carabao Cup final set for March 22 at Wembley Stadium.
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