ALTHOUGH half the country was probably sent to sleep, Arsenal’s fans will not have cared.
It has been a bit of a wait but they are heading back up the Metropolitan Line to Wembley Park for another Cup final.
After four successive semi-finals losses, Arsenal held out following an unbelievably tedious second leg.
Incredibly, there were just TWO SHOTS on target from each team.
The final on March 22, against either Manchester City or Newcastle, should come with some sort of health warning.
At the very least, with Arsenal involved, make sure you have a couple of double espressos before the game as watching Mikel Arteta’s team – at least some of the time – is a bit dull, putting things mildly.
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While they are the best team in England – and also Europe – Arsenal remain effective and solid without being entertainers.
But none of the home fans inside the Emirates here were bothered about the lack of entertainment once Kai Havertz rolled in the only goal in the 97th minute then Peter Bankes blew his final whistle.
Arsenal’s fans still sang the name of their manager as they squeezed through thanks in large part to their 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge last month.
Arteta is now close to securing only the second major trophy since taking over at Arsenal and that was the FA Cup six years ago.
No fans were allowed for the 2-1 win over Chelsea in 2020 due to Covid restrictions so the last time Arsenal’s supporters headed to the national stadium for a major game was the 2018 Carabao Cup final.
It was Arsene Wenger’s last season with Manchester City winning 3-0 and assistant to Pep Guardiola that day was a certain Arteta.
It will be a tall order but maybe the Carabao Cup final will be a launchpad for something special in terms of a quadruple.
But we will not see a return of the free-flowing football we saw under Arteta a couple of years ago because playing that way, Arsenal won nothing.
Once again, star striker Viktor Gyokeres, who scored against Leeds on Saturday via his shin, huffed and puffed before being replaced by Havertz.
As for new Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior, this was his second loss in eight matches and both have been against Arsenal but he will still be encouraged by the fact they were so stubborn.
His game plan of staying in the game and then trying to nick a goal worked pretty well but even once he made his changes, Chelsea never really looked like scoring.
Fresh from being handed his fourth Arsenal goal by the Premier League’s dubious goals committee following his corner at Leeds, Noni Madueke kept his place against his former team – and this is why Arsenal could do so well because they have so many options available.
Arsenal ratings vs Chelsea
ARSENAL booked their place in the Carabao Cup final after a dramatic late win at home to Chelsea.
SunSport’s Simon Collings was at the Emirates Stadium to rate the performance…
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6
Continued his run of being Arsenal’s ‘cup goalkeeper’ this season. His distribution was decent and he picked out Martinelli with a lovely pass over the top. Suspect on one corner that was almost bundled home by Liam Delap.
Jurrien Timber – 6
Looks far more settled in this team now he is back playing at right-back regularly. Did not get forward as much as he usually does, however he was solid defensively.
William Saliba – 6
Largely kept Chelsea’s front line under wraps. Would have had his heart in his mouth, though, when VAR checked him wrestling with Joao Pedro at a corner.
Gabriel – 7
Captain for the night and put in a strong display. Made a couple of big blocks and also a good chance for Martinelli, who wasted the opportunity. Went close to scoring himself, but Marc Cucurella did well to block his header.
Piero Hincapie – 7
Went close to scoring his first Arsenal goal with a sweet strike in the opening 20 minutes. That was the Gunners’ only shot on target – which sums up their struggles in attack. Battled well and was strong in the tackle.
Martin Zubimendi – 6
Guilty of the odd sloppy pass and not at the level he can be on the ball. Did create a huge chance for Gabriel late on when he clipped a cross to the back post.
Declan Rice – 8
The game got very scrappy in the second half and Rice played a key role in steadying the ship. Got through a lot of dirty work – and then showed a moment of real quality in a drab game to setup the winner.
Noni Madueke – 6
Kept his place in the team due to Bukayo Saka being injured. Had a good old battle with Cucurella, who he flattened early doors. Looked lively when making some mazy runs out right, but the end product was lacking.
Eberechi Eze – 5
This felt like a big night for the England star in the absence of Gunners skipper Martin Odgegaard. Eze was handed just his fourth start since the turn of the year, yet he failed to deliver. Far too quiet for a player of his quality.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6
One of three changes from Arsenal’s win at Leeds last Saturday. Wasted, probably, the best chance of the first half when he latched onto Gabriel’s long ball. Finished the game on the right wing after Trossard came on.
Viktor Gyokeres – 5
Toiled away up top, but did not cause Chelsea many problems. The Swede will argue he did not have much service, however the little that Gyokeres did get, he wasted.
Subs
Kai Havertz (Gyokeres 69’) – 7
Off the bench – and on the scoresheet. Took his goal with so much composure as Arsenal sealed the win in the dying moments.
Leandro Trossard (Madueke 69’) 7
Brought on out left and brought some composure to the game. Had a big hand in Havertz’s late winner.
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The £48.5million million arrival from Stamford Bridge was an unused substitute in the 3-2 first-leg win at Chelsea but was always going to start due to Bukayo Saka missing out with a hip injury.
And Madueke brought a huge cheer from the home fans when flooring Marc Cucurella with a hefty challenge in what was a bang average first half.
About the only other interesting part of the dire first half was Chelsea’s way of dealing with Arsenal’s obvious threat from corners.
On both occasions in the first half, Chelsea looked as though they were going to keep all their players inside the area before Liam Delap, Malo Gusto and Jorrel Hato sprinted towards the halfway line to put Arsenal’s players into panic mode with three players having to hastily track back.
Arsenal’s attack did not have much initial joy and it was left-back Piero Hincapie who forced a decent save from Robert Sanchez.
That chance was created by Eberechi Eze who was making a rare start as he made way for skipper Martin Odegaard who, having dropped to the subs bench for the 4-0 win over Leeds, was given the night off which was probably a good idea.
Once again, though, Eze did not really do enough but at least Arteta is finally learning his lessons of the past and starting to rest players.
Also starting on the bench was Leandro Trossard and his replacement, Gabriel Martinelli, should have done a lot better when controlling a long punt from Gabriel Magalhaes but he took too much time and then Gusto blocked the shot.
Chelsea were poor in the final third. We had to wait until just before half-time when Enzo Fernandez was given loads of space but his shot was too close to Kepa Arrizabalaga who punched the ball away.
Chelsea continued to frustrate Arsenal and Arteta was booked for moaning at ref Peter Bankes.
Rosenior attempted to change the game by unleashing Cole Palmer and Estevao on the hour but they were unable to weave their magic.
In the end, Havertz stuck the knife in the seventh minute of stoppage time when he rounded keeper Robert Sanchez to score only his second of the season after returning from injury.
It was all thanks to a terrific pass from Declan Rice and as Havertz celebrated, some of Chelsea’s players fell to their knees. They cannot really have any complaints, either.
And so, it was Arsenal on their way to Wembley. Or rather, Arzzzzzzzenal.
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