Arsenal sealed their place in the Carabao Cup final last night with a 1–0 win over Chelsea at the Emirates, completing a 4–2 aggregate victory in a semi-final second leg that was tight, tense and short on clear chances until the very last seconds. For long spells it felt like a chess match—Arsenal protecting their advantage with control and structure, Chelsea trying to find the one goal that would swing the tie—before a late breakaway ended it in brutally clinical fashion, Kai Havertz rounding Robert Sánchez in stoppage time to score against his former club and send the home crowd into celebration.
The early pattern was exactly what you’d expect from a team defending an aggregate lead. Arsenal kept their distances compact, moved the ball patiently when they had it, and looked more concerned with denying transitions than committing numbers forward. Chelsea had plenty of possession in harmless areas but struggled to turn that into genuine danger, with Arsenal’s midfield doing a smart job of blocking the central lanes and forcing play wide. Chances were at a premium: there was a save apiece in the first hour and most efforts were either snatched at from distance or smothered in crowded boxes.
As the clock ticked on, Chelsea began to take bigger risks. Liam Rosenior reshaped his side in search of urgency, throwing on Cole Palmer and Estêvão and later Alejandro Garnacho—the same player who caused Arsenal problems in the first leg—hoping for a spark that could turn pressure into a decisive moment. The visitors did manage to raise the tempo and pin Arsenal back deeper, but the final pass kept letting them down, and whenever a cross did arrive, Arsenal’s centre-backs dealt with it calmly. Chelsea’s best spell came late, when they threw bodies forward and tried to overload the wide areas, yet it still didn’t translate into the kind of clear chance that truly tests a keeper.
That all-or-nothing approach eventually created the space Arsenal were waiting for. Deep into stoppage time, Declan Rice surged forward on the counter as Chelsea committed men into the box, and Arsenal’s break had a ruthless simplicity to it. Havertz took the pass in stride, kept his nerve, and finished the tie with a composed touch after rounding Sánchez, sealing the night and putting Arsenal on the road to Wembley for their first League Cup final appearance since 2018.
After the match, Mikel Arteta framed it as a win built on maturity across two legs, praising his side’s discipline and their understanding of when to accelerate and when to shut the game down. He also spoke about the lift a final can give a squad in a season packed with matches, describing it as the kind of momentum that can feed a group mentally as well as physically. Arteta reserved special words for Havertz, acknowledging the striker’s stop-start season and calling the goal a “special moment” that he hopes will kickstart a strong run.
Rosenior, meanwhile, focused on the progress he believes Chelsea are making despite the elimination. He pointed to a more controlled, organised performance than the chaotic first leg and accepted that Arsenal’s winner arrived when Chelsea were effectively “throwing everything” at the game. He insisted the setback can’t derail Chelsea’s longer-term aims, highlighting elements of the display he liked, even as he admitted they lacked the cutting edge needed to truly threaten Arsenal’s lead. He also noted a couple of late fitness issues in his squad, with key players missing out after picking up minor knocks.
In the end, it was a semi-final decided by fine margins and one ruthless transition. Chelsea had to chase, Arsenal made them work for every inch, and when the game finally opened up in the final moments, the decisive touch came from the one player whose storyline felt written for the occasion.
