Arsenal 1-2

Telegraph:

Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1 (2-1 on agg): Gunners strike lucky as they come from behind to reach final


Jason Burt



There is a post-Alexis Sánchez liberation to Arsenal who showed the character, belief and a new-found togetherness to come from behind and defeat Chelsea to reach the Carabao Cup final.

Having cursed their misfortune throughout the draining Sánchez saga, before he finally departed for Manchester United, Arsenal benefited from two huge slices of luck to win this semi-final.

Oh no, Antonio. Not just Antonio Conte – with the Chelsea head coach a study in frustration on the touchline – but his defender Antonio Rudiger who scored an own goal and then with another hapless intervention deflected the ball into the path of Granit Xhaka so the midfielder could poke home the winner on the hour. Both were pinball goals, the ball ricocheting around the Chelsea penalty area before finding the net.

For Arsène Wenger this was the sweetest of victories, gained also through a smart tactical switch at half-time – when Chelsea were dominant – as he reverted to a three-man defence, pushing Mohamed Elneny back from midfield. Chelsea failed to cope.

That Xhaka and Elneny, often so maligned by the home fans, were two of Arsenal’s most impressive performers – along, again, with Jack Wilshere - will have been all the more satisfying for Wenger who has now set up a Wembley showpiece for a 10th time in under four years. And Wenger has won on all those previous nine visits.


That includes three FA Cup final triumphs, the latest only last May, when Chelsea were defeated – Sánchez scored the first goal in that 2-1 win – and it is just one defeat in eight encounters for Arsenal against them. Given the dominance Chelsea used to enjoy over Wenger that is another satisfying recent turn of events for him.

The League Cup is a trophy that has eluded him, though, with Arsenal having last won it in 1993 and their most recent appearance in the final was the shambolic defeat by Birmingham City in 2011. Seven years later – a lucky seven Wenger will hope – Arsenal are back and although they will, of course, be underdogs against Manchester City on Feb 25 then they were also for the two legs of this semi-final against Chelsea.


Conte will lick his wounds. A League Cup will not define his time at Chelsea, or influence his future, but this was a bitter disappointment not least because he evidently feels his squad is stretched, especially up-front with Alvaro Morata injured and little faith in Michy Batshuayi. They are too dependent on Eden Hazard.

The Italian will have noted that transfer target Edin Dzeko scored for Roma while this tie was unfolding and he will also have to deal with the loss of Willian to injury. His departure proved crucial, in fact, as up until the Brazilian limped off in the first-half Chelsea were dominant and for his replacement Ross Barkley, making his first appearance since his £15 million move from Everton, and playing his first game since last May, it was a tough start.


Having thumped Crystal Palace, in the Premier League, in the first game since it was confirmed that Sanchez was definitely leaving, this was another impressive riposte even if Wenger admitted that his team appeared “scared to go for it” during the first-half.

That they rallied after conceding such a poor goal was to their credit, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, swapped for Sanchez, watching from the stands as he is ineligible for this competition having featured for United in their shock quarter-final defeat away to Bristol City.


Mkhitaryan will have shuddered when Arsenal were torn apart inside 10 minutes in a moment that, briefly, knocked the wind out of them. Pedro already had the ball in the net – a header correctly ruled out for offside – and Shkodran Mustafi had already lazily made a mistake, with a sloppy pass, before both players were involved and Hazard opening the scoring.

N’Golo Kanté was allowed to stride forward and play a simple pass into Pedro and with Laurent Koscielny committed his defensive partner Mustafi simply did not track Hazard who easily stole through to collect Pedro’s delivery and calmly stroke his low shot into the net, off goalkeeper David Ospina. Little wonder Arsenal are keen to sign Jonny Evans.

It also stunned Arsenal into action with Chelsea’s reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero having to react quickly to deny first Wilshere, as he broke through, and then Nacho Monreal with the follow-up.

The goalkeeper was hurt. And then he was beaten. Arsenal won a corner, met by Monreal, such an unlikely goal threat, with his header ricocheting first off Marcos Alonso’s head and then Rudiger’s before flying past Caballero.

Rudiger was unfortunate there and was again with the decisive goal. This time, into the second-half, he tracked Alexandre Lacazette’s run, along with Andreas Christensen, and as the striker tried to cut the ball back it rebounded off Rudiger’s leg and squirted goalwards for Xhaka to pounce.


Once ahead, oddly, Arsenal were rarely in trouble and they went closest to scoring again when Mesut Ozil broke and squared the ball to Alex Iwobi who elected to shoot first-time, allowing Caballero to block with his legs. Would Arsenal pay the price? There was pressure from Chelsea, Conte ran through his substitutions, but worryingly for them they did not carve out an opening.

“We are happy to take our fans to Wembley,” Wenger said, having had a pre-match dig at teams who are lauded despite not winning trophies. “We’ve been there a few times now,” he added, smiling.



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Guardian:


Granit Xhaka seals Arsenal place at Wembley at Chelsea’s expense

David Hytner at the Emirates Stadium


Antonio Rüdiger’s eyes widened in alarm. It could not be happening again, could it? The Chelsea defender had already got in the way of a deflected Nacho Monreal header to concede an own-goal equaliser in this helter-skelter Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg.

It was happening again. Alexandre Lacazette had found a small pocket of space following a forward surge but Chelsea looked to have him under control. The Arsenal striker dug out a low cross and, almost in slow motion, it deflected off Rüdiger to fall perfectly for Granit Xhaka. The Arsenal midfielder stretched out a leg and, following one more thump of Rüdiger’s heart, the ball was on its way into the far corner for the winner.


It had been impossible to separate these rivals over 90 minutes in four previous meetings this season and it felt as though it might take something freakish to do so this time. Rüdiger provided it and so Arsenal will face Manchester City in the final next month. Arsène Wenger has never won this competition. Is the wait about to end?

It was the most eclectic of tactical triumphs for the Arsenal manager. He had lined up in a 4-3-3 formation but, after a wobbly start, he switched to a system with wing-backs and Mohamed Elneny in front of the three centre-halves.

Wenger’s more advanced midfielders interchanged positions, with Mesut Özil in a particularly free role. Jack Wilshere said that “we might have got the formation wrong in the first 25 minutes”.


Wenger firmed up his changes at the interval and, by the end, he had Elneny in the middle of his three-man defence, Sead Kolasinac – a substitute – in front of the left wing-back, Monreal, and Özil roaming as a false nine.

The new signing from Manchester United, Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who was cup-tied – watched from behind the bench. Wenger had been asked on Tuesday where he intended to play him. “Centre-back, on the right,” he began. On this evidence anything is possible.

It was difficult to fathom, at times, but it worked. Arsenal deserved to progress to Wembley for a 10th time in four seasons – they have won each of the previous nine – and they never looked as though they would surrender the advantage that Xhaka gave them. Willy Caballero, the Chelsea goalkeeper, came up for a last-gasp corner but it came to nothing.

Eden Hazard apart, Chelsea were off-colour and their cause was not helped when Willian felt his hamstring on the half-hour and was forced off. Conte suggested that the problem was not too serious but he launched into a post-match speech about the pressures on his small squad. These kind of injuries, he suggested, were the result of players playing too much.

Where were the reinforcements from the transfer market? Conte’s frustration was obvious and, he continued, the situation was not an overnight phenomenon.

“It is the same from the summer,” Conte said. He went on to lay the blame at the club’s board. They decided on every player, he said. “For sure, I don’t have a big impact on the transfer market,” he added. Conte’s future at Stamford Bridge is already in doubt. This felt like him picking an argument.

The tie had crackled to life at the outset, with Chelsea pressing and Arsenal making mistakes. Alex Iwobi and Shkodran Mustafi erred with loose passes and the home crowd howled. Pedro had a fifth-minute header correctly disallowed for offside before he sent Hazard through and the forward beat David Ospina.


Arsenal responded. Caballero blocked from Wilshere and then pawed the ball clear of the onrushing Monreal before Rüdiger suffered his first moment of misfortune. Monreal’s header from Özil’s corner hit Marcos Alonso before ricocheting off Rüdiger and flying past Caballero.

Conte described the loss of Willian as “decisive”. It led to a debut off the bench for Ross Barkley but Conte made the point that the January signing, bought from Everton for £15m, was not yet fully assimilated. It was Barkley’s first appearance since last May and Unsurprisingly, he looked off the pace.

The attacking options of both teams were under the microscope. With Arsenal pushing hard to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund, Lacazette needed a big game but he was restricted to feeding off scraps.

On Chelsea’s side it remains plain that Conte does not trust Michy Batshuayi. With Álvaro Morata injured he preferred Hazard as a false nine. Meanwhile the club’s target, Edin Dzeko, played for Roma and he scored a last-minute equaliser against Sampdoria.

Xhaka and Özil went close before the interval while Hazard slipped as he ran through early in the second half. Iwobi might have made the closing stages more comfortable for Arsenal had he finished from Özil’s cross on 76 minutes but Wenger’s team had done enough.



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Mail:


Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (agg 2-1): Gunners come from behind to book place at Wembley as Granit Xhaka pokes in to secure Carabao Cup semi-final victory


By Martin Samuel


A goal and an assist. Not the worst night for Antonio Rudiger. Unfortunately…

The goal was Arsenal's first-half equaliser; the assist, their second-half winner. Not that Rudiger could have done much about either. These were hapless deflections more than horrible errors, a scruffy influence on what was often a scruffy game. Not that Arsenal were complaining.

This win takes them to Wembley again, for the first domestic cup final since their last visit in May. Manchester City will be favourites on the day, of course, but so were Chelsea over two legs here. Arsenal were decent value for their win, though, even if Chelsea will rue the chances missed by Alvaro Morata in the first game. They could have had a reasonable cushion here.


Instead they were vulnerable to random twists of fate. A header twice deflected on its way to goal, a cross diverted straight to the feet of Arsenal's matchwinner, Granit Xhaka. The winner came after 60 minutes, Arsenal having fought back from an early goal down. By then, they were in the ascendancy, despite Eden Hazard doing his utmost to drag Chelsea back into the game. To no avail: after Arsenal took the lead, they also had the best chance of the final 30 minutes. Had Alex Iwobi taken it, the last five minutes would have been considerably less tense – not to mention four minutes injury time.

Chelsea even got a corner, the final play of the game. Ross Barkley had one job on his debut – make sure he didn't plant it into the first red shirt. He failed and Michael Oliver blew the final whistle. It was an inauspicious start for Chelsea's new signing. He hadn't played a competitive first-team game since May, and it showed.

The winner was fortunate but not undeserved overall. Alexandre Lacazette, quiet otherwise, held the ball up well on the right against Andreas Christensen, before attempting a cross which clipped the legs of Rudiger. Having already diverted the ball into his own net with his head, he could have done with a break. He didn't get it.

The rebound took the ball directly to Xhaka, who prodded it past second-string goalkeeper Willy Caballero. Ah well. A Carabao Cup final appearance is hardly going to influence the long term future of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. These things do matter to Arsenal though. They may be losing ground in the league, but Arsene Wenger he has turned them into an excellent cup side and some would even argue those recent successes have extended his tenure.


It was with 14 minutes remaining that Iwobi should have wrapped the game up, but he hit his shot directly at Caballero with plenty of time and space. He will be pleased that, unlike Morata, he was not made to pay for his wastefulness.

Indeed, the poor souls who paid good money for the first leg of this, must have followed the rematch with a degree of envy. There was more action, and certainly more goals, in the first 12 minutes than they enjoyed in 90 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had the ball in the net, disallowed on a tight – but right – offside call after five minutes, scored legitimately after seven, and saw their lead erased five minutes later. And those were not the only opportunities in a frenetic opening spell.

It was more like the league game here, earlier this month, which finished 2-2 and could have been 5-5. At times it resembled one of those pick-up matches over the park, players doing as they pleased with scant regard for shape. Only as the game wore on did it become more structured, Wenger in particular tinkering between a back four, a three, and then four again, as he sought to contain Chelsea. He has done a job on them over these two ties – an intriguing reversal of a familiar pattern.

The VAR was in play on Wednesday night – as the Carabao Cup continued its random quest for truth – and Oliver used it at the first opportunity. Cesar Azpilicueta clipped the ball through, Pedro sprinted away from Arsenal's back line and steered a header past David Ospina. It looked too good to be true; and was. Scott Ledger's flag was up and the VAR rerun showed him to be correct. Pedro was off, but not by much. Arsenal could not afford to leave gaps in their ranks like that again. Being Arsenal, they failed to learn this rather obvious lesson.

So two minutes later, they paid. It was a lovely, fluent passing move, started by N'Golo Kante, who fed the ball into Pedro, his deft flick finding Hazard exploiting a hole in the middle of Arsenal's defence that the team bus could have driven through. Unlike Morata, Hazard made no mistake, slipping the ball past Ospina without fuss.

Arsenal should have equalised within two minutes. Jack Wilshere has been in great form for Arsenal of late, but his touch was poor when put through by a pinger of a pass from Iwobi. Wilshere's heavy control diverted the ball into the path of Cabellero, sustaining a minor knock. Not that it had any influence on Arsenal's equaliser minutes later.

No goalkeeper could have kept the ball out from its zig-zag path to goal. Nacho Monreal won the header but from there, the ball took on a life of its own. It hit Marcos Alonso on the head, rebounded off the head of Rudiger and defeated Caballero utterly. He might have reacted to the first ricochet, but the second left him stranded.

Hazard remained the danger, though, although the anger the home fans directed at him for a perceived dive in the second-half was misplaced. He had already been booked for a foul on Mesut Ozil when he went through on goal, but lost his footing, and fell. Yet what would once have been a source of harmless merriment was now a cause for fury. The locals wanted him booked for diving, and therefore sent off. It would have been a travesty.

There was no appeal from Hazard, no attempt to make capital of the situation. He tripped. That was all. Footballers have to be free to fall over without being accused of simulation. Sometimes it truly is no more than a slippy floor.


Arsenal (4-3-3): Ospina 6; Bellerin 6, Koscielny 6.5, Mustafi 6, Monreal 7; Wilshere 7, Elneny 7.5, Xhaka 6.5; Iwobi 6 (Ramsey 84), Lacazette 6 (Kolasinac 84), Ozil 7

Subs not used: Macey (GK), Chambers, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Nketiah

Goal: Rudiger (OG) 12, Xhaka 60

Booked: Wilshere, Monreal


Chelsea (3-4-3): Caballero 6.5; Azpilicueta 6, Christensen 6, Rudiger 5; Moses 6 (Zappacosta 72, 6), Kante 7, Bakayoko 6, Alonso 6; Pedro 6 (Batshuayi, 65, 5), Hazard 7, Willian 6.5 (Barkley 30, 5)

Subs not used: Eduardo (GK), Drinkwater, Cahill, Luiz

Goal: Hazard 7

Booked: Hazard, Moses


Referee: Michael Oliver

Attendance: 58,964


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