Carabao Cup: Arsenal Beat Chelsea, March On To Final

Arsenal claimed their place in the Carabao Cup final as Kai Havertz’s breakaway goal in stoppage time sealed a 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium and a 4-2 victory on aggregate.

At the end of a cagey encounter, substitute Havertz latched onto Declan Rice’s cross before dribbling around Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and finishing into an empty net to seal Arsenal’s passage to their first cup final since 2020.

The victory ends a run of four consecutive semi-final defeats for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta and means they will face either Manchester City or Newcastle in next month’s final at Wembley.

Chelsea, needing a goal to send the tie to extra-time following the five-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge in the first leg, had 14 shots to Arsenal’s five but were unable to create any clear openings.

Enzo Fernandez was the only player to meaningfully test Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga when his curling effort from outside the box was palmed away in the first half.

The Gunners were mostly content to protect their lead, only threatening on a couple of occasions before Havertz’s 97th-minute winner as they instead fell back on their defensive excellence to become the first club in Europe’s major leagues to record a 20th clean sheet in all competitions this season.