Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea: Late Havertz goal sends Gunners to Wembley | OneFootball

Arsenal booked their place in a first Carabao Cup final since 2017 as Kai Havertz’s late finish sealed a narrow victory over Chelsea in a tense semi-final second leg.

In a game low on chances and action, it just took one decisive moment late in stoppage time to separate the sides, with the former Chelsea man delivering the decisive blow.

As it happened

Chelsea had the first sight of goal when Liam Delap pounced on a loose William Saliba touch inside the box, but he failed to make good contact and dragged his effort wide.

It set the tone for a cagey opening, with neither side able to generate any form of attacking threat.

Arsenal’s first effort came through Piero Hincapié, whose left-footed curler forced Robert Sánchez into a smart save.

The rebound fell for Gabriel Magalhães, but the defender could not react quickly enough, and the chance passed.

The hosts’ best opportunity of the half fell to Gabriel Martinelli as he timed his run in behind perfectly to meet Gabriel’s through ball. After cutting back onto his left foot, his shot was well blocked by Malo Gusto, as a subdued first half came to an end.

Chelsea very nearly took advantage of a dodgy moment for Kepa Arrizabalaga at the beginning of the second half.

The Spanish goalkeeper failed to collect the ball from a corner before it rebounded off Liam Delap and out for a goal kick.

Just on the hour mark, Liam Rosenior made his substitutes, as he had seemingly always planned.

Instantly, Chelsea looked as though they were becoming more of a threat. They started pressing Arsenal high, forcing the Gunners long and into unforced errors although Chelsea did not capitalise on this, and Arsenal regained control

The hosts then with their first shot of the half, very nearly took the lead. Declan Rice won it back high before playing it to Martín Zubimendi, whose cross found Gabriel open at the back post, but his header was blocked brilliantly by Marc Cucurella.

Chelsea’s only real opening late on came through Enzo Fernández, who found space on the edge of the area but failed to hit the target.

As Chelsea threw everything at Arsenal, they sprung a counterattack, with Rice finding Kai Havertz open and through on goal. The German rounded Sánchez before tapping into the empty net, sending the Gunners to Wembley for the first time since 2020.

Analysis: Patience pays as Arsenal strike at the perfect moment

Liam Rosenior mentioned throughout his pre-match media duties that he was putting a lot of focus on the second half of the game, likely meaning stay in the tie and try to punish Arsenal late on.

This tactic worked in some ways, in terms of how Chelsea stifled the crowd in the first half and limited Arsenal to very few chances. The problem? That Chelsea themselves, even after the changes, created very little also.

It ultimately resulted in a very cagey, cautious affair from both teams, with almost no goalmouth action whatsoever throughout. Arsenal, seemingly happy to see the game out and trust their incredible defensive structure,

Then, of course, they hit Chelsea with a sucker punch from their former player Kai Havertz, which sent them out of the Carabao Cup and the Gunners into the Carabao Cup final for the first time since 2018.