EFL Cup review: Arsenal edge past Chelsea to reach final

Football writer Tom Prentki reflects on Wednesday night's EFL Cup semi-final second leg between Arsenal and Chelsea.

Arsenal are through to their ninth EFL Cup Final following a 4-2 aggregate victory over London rivals Chelsea, their first cup final in six years.

Former Chelsea forward Kai Havertz scored with the final kick of the game to see Arsenal win 1-0 at Emirates Stadium, in a game of few chances for either side as Mikel Arteta's side secure a first semi-final success after five attempts.

The assist came from Declan Rice and the England midfielder was overjoyed to have helped Arsenal to their first cup final in six years.

He said: “We deserve it. To be in a cup final with this club is amazing. Credit to Chelsea to be fair. Since their new manager’s come in, they’ve been really good. They changed the formation and caused us problems.

“We have a group who really want it. Whatever team comes at us, we're ready for 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.”

Watch: Highlights of Arsenal's victory

All of the excitement came in a thrilling first-leg tie at Stamford Bridge three weeks ago, won 3-2 by Arsenal, with Arteta’s side keeping Chelsea at arm’s length in the return fixture.

There was intriguing team news for both sides on a wet and windy night in north London. Arsenal were without club captain Martin Odegaard, with Arteta confirming that he had suffered “a little knock” but that he hoped the captain would be fit for Saturday’s visit of Sunderland in the Premier League.

Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer arrived at Emirates Stadium wearing a face mask, only fit enough for a place on the bench, with Liam Rosenior setting up with three centre-backs and wing-backs for the first time since becoming Chelsea’s head coach.

Rosenior said: “In terms of the game plan, we dominated the areas we wanted to in the second half but we didn’t find that quality moment.

“Arsenal knew they were in for a game today, over both ties. It’s painful to lose, you want to go through. I cannot fault the application, the fight, the intensity of the players. We have to make sure we keep improving as we go.”

Chelsea nullify Arsenal's threat in the first half

Arsenal have scored 28 times from set-pieces this season including Ben White’s header from Rice’s corner in the reverse fixture.

To combat that threat, Chelsea sent two players, Liam Delap and Wesley Fofana, charging out of the penalty area as the Gunners prepared to take their corners, forcing some of the Arsenal players to retreat from the penalty area themselves and track them.

After a cagey start, it was Arsenal who had the first key effort on target, with Eberechi Eze teeing up Piero Hincapie to hit a curling shot which was beaten away by Robert Sanchez.

Arsenal began to build some momentum towards the end of the first half and Gabriel Martinelli got behind the Chelsea defence only to see his shot superbly blocked by the recovering Malo Gusto.

In the final moments of the half, Chelsea had their only chance of note with Enzo Fernandez forcing Kepa Arrizabalaga into an acrobatic save as he shot from the edge of the area.

Rosenior tries to turn the tide

Rosenior waited an hour before bringing Palmer and Estevao off the bench, with Chelsea facing elimination from the competition unless they could find a goal.

As they began to push, Fernandez had another effort from 20 yards out which this time flew over the crossbar.

As Chelsea began to commit more players forward, Arsenal found a gap and Martin Zubimendi crossed to Gabriel at the far post but his powerful header was superbly blocked by Marc Cucurella.

With seven minutes left, Martinelli was claiming a penalty after going down under Trevoh Chalobah’s challenge but a VAR check confirmed the Chelsea defender had won the ball cleanly, even if his follow-through took the Brazilian down.

As play entered the final seconds of the allotted six minutes of additional time, Rice broke free to cross to an unmarked Havertz and he coolly stepped past Sanchez to slot home as the Gunners secured victory and extended their unbeaten run against Chelsea to 10 matches in all competitions.

Arsenal will face Manchester City or Newcastle United, who play their second leg on Wednesday 4 February - with Man City 2-0 up after the first leg, in the final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 22 March at 16:30 GMT.

It means that Arsenal’s match at Wolverhampton Wanderers that was due to take place on the weekend of the final has been moved to Wednesday 18 February, 20:00 GMT.

Arsenal report | Chelsea report

What next for Arsenal and Chelsea?

Next up in the Premier League on Saturday, Arsenal host Sunderland, hoping to extend their lead to nine points, while Chelsea travel to bottom-of-the-table Wolves.