LONDON — The last steps really are the most difficult. This season is about nothing other than winning for Arsenal and so all that mattered on Tuesday was the result: a 1-0 win over Chelsea which sealed the Gunners’ place in a first cup final for six years.
The second leg of this Carabao Cup semifinal was an attritional affair in which Chelsea got creative in everything except their use of the ball: starting with a back five, pressing high up the pitch and leaving three men up when defending corners to help nullify Arsenal’s threat from set-pieces.
The combination seemed to flummox the home side, who were restricted to very little themselves but, leading 3-2 from the first leg, they had no need to make the running and settled into the defensive shape in which they are exceptionally comfortable.
And so when Chelsea tried to flick the switch on the hour mark, going to a back four, throwing on Cole Palmer and Estêvão, they found an impenetrable rearguard action led by William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães before substitute Kai Havertz capitalized on a counter-attack deep in stoppage-time to round Robert Sánchez and score against his former club.
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Havertz pointed to the badge as Emirates Stadium erupted in euphoria, a fanbase jubilant in the knowledge they are 90 minutes from adding silverware to the years of sustained progress head coach Mikel Arteta has delivered since winning the 2020 FA Cup.
That came in a Wembley stadium bereft of fans due to Covid-19 restrictions, only enhancing the club’s desire to come together and celebrate a trophy-winning moment.
The opportunity will now arrive on 22 March, probably against Manchester City given they hold a 2-0 lead over Newcastle United with home advantage to come.
“We’re only one match away,” said Arteta. “It’s the best vitamins that we can put in our bodies because we’re playing every three days. But the fact that we worked so hard to achieve those moments and to have these moments together is just magical.
“You can see the joy, the smiles, the energy from everyone that works at the club. Winning helps in every sense. Confidence, energy, you call it. We’re going to be there in a few weeks, we’ll prepare well.
“In the meantime we know that we need to just put it aside because three days later we’re going to have a massive game here in the Premier League [against Sunderland].”
This is the first major setback of Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea tenure. His gameplan divided opinion, effectively trying to play their way into the second leg of a semifinal tie they were losing.
There was plenty of sense in it — especially as he confirmed afterwards that Pedro Neto and Reece James failed fitness tests on the morning of the game — and the Blues were effective at stopping Arsenal from taking the tie away from them.
The Gunners’ expected goals figure at half-time was just 0.18, their third lowest figure after 45 minutes in a match since the start of 2024.
The problem came when they tried to attack. Palmer looked well short of match fitness and Estêvão was understandably feeling the effects of a trip back to Brazil to deal with a personal matter. Alejandro Garnacho was anonymous when introduced 15 minutes from time.
Some will want Rosenior to have been braver. There is certainly a case for arguing his changes should have come sooner. But this is a venue where crowd nerves are well documented and Chelsea’s approach interestingly attempted to play into that.
“You can come away from home, press all over the pitch man for man and you could go 2-0 up or you could go 2-0 down,” said Rosenior.
“I felt that the psychological aspect of the tie was very important as well and I felt in the stadium as well. 60 minutes, I bring on Cole and Estevao and the game opens up and we have moments in and around the box. I think there was a feeling in the stadium that this tie could turn. We didn’t achieve what we wanted to, but it’s not about game plans, it’s about results.”
The effects for Arsenal could be profound. What can now be said is Arsenal have finally ended their semifinal hoodoo. On four consecutive occasions they have fallen at this stage and, together with three Premier League second-place finishes, a glass ceiling had formed which they were battling to break.
But this season has transformational potential. The year they shed the nearly-men tag and become winners. Having a final on the horizon next month maintains the momentum in all competitions and keeps the possibility of a quadruple alive.
Nobody in these parts is seriously talking about a quadruple because history tells them they cannot take one trophy for granted, let alone imagine winning four.
But last week the talk engulfing Arsenal was of a wobble. Now they are striding forward again, one small step at a time.
