When the final whistle blew, a huge wave of relief swept over this stadium. Arsenal may not have been at all convincing against a Chelsea side who caused them the occasional problem but Mikel Arteta will not care one bit. After four successive semi-final defeats, Arsenal are on their way to Wembley. At last.
After the drama of the first leg at Stamford Bridge that saw Liam Rosenior’s side travel to north London needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit, this was a much more cagey affair that was eventually settled in stoppage time by Kai Havertz’s breakaway goal against his former club. Arsenal had seemed content to keep Chelsea at arm’s length for most of the evening and rarely looked like extending their advantage until then.
Yet having not won this competition since 1993 and after crashing out at the semi-final stage to Newcastle after a 4-0 defeat on aggregate last season, this was an occasion for Arteta and his team to savour as they celebrated deep into the night. A potential showdown in the final with title rivals Manchester City would only add to the sense of drama as they chase a potential quadruple but Arsenal know they are within touching distance of a first trophy since winning the FA Cup in Arteta’s first season six years ago.
Rosenior sprang a surprise by leaving Cole Palmer on the bench and naming a back three for the first time, while there was no place for captain Reece James after he failed a fitness test. But while his team’s unexpected formation caused Arsenal a few issues in the first half, they lacked the cutting edge to make it count against a defence as organised as Arsenal’s and only managed two shots on target.
The hosts were also without their skipper as Martin Ødegaard missed out with a minor muscle injury and Arteta decided against risking Bukayo Saka’s hip problem. Their absence could explain Arsenal’s lack of fluency in attack that hardly backed up Arteta’s pre-match claim that his side are the most exciting in Europe as Eberechi Eze laboured on a rare start.
Not since 1987 when David Rocastle’s winner helped Arsenal come from behind against their north London rivals Tottenham has a team overturned a first-leg deficit in the semi-final of this competition after losing the first leg at home. But with Arsenal playing in front of their fans for the first time since losing to Manchester United last weekend, Rosenior admitted beforehand that his side would try to play on any anxieties among the home supporters. Those would only have been heightened by an unconvincing first half performance that saw Arsenal struggle to deal with Chelsea’s switch of formation.
Their high-energy press unsettled the hosts and William Saliba gifted the first opportunity to Liam Delap with a poor piece of control inside his own area but his shot went well wide.
Arsenal scored from a corner early in the first leg in Rosenior’s first game in charge three weeks ago but Chelsea’s head coach had clearly been working on how to stop them. Three attacking players were sent upfield just as Declan Rice was about to deliver their first of the evening. Piero Hincapié’s header was deflected over by Wesley Fofana and it needed a full-stretch Robert Sánchez to save the Ecuador defender’s piledriver after Chelsea had failed to clear the second corner.
But Rosenior will have been encouraged with how his side adapted to their task as he patrolled the touchline in the rain. When Gabriel Martinelli finally found some space in the area, Malo Gusto was there to block his shot. Chelsea’s best attempt of the half came just before the break when Enzo Fernández let fly from outside the area and Kepa Arrizabalaga was able to make a comfortable save. Arteta headed down the tunnel looking most concerned.
Arrizabalaga’s flap at a corner as the start of the second half will not have done his nerves any good but Delap could not direct his effort on target. Arteta earned himself a yellow card after remonstrating with the fourth official when João Pedro was fouled by Hincapié as temperatures briefly threatened to spill over.
Rosenior decided it was time to roll the dice on then hour mark and summoned Palmer and Estévâo from the bench as he switched to a back four. Suddenly they were much more of a threat as Marc Cucurella and the Brazilian teenager fired efforts wide. Gusto was booked for diving before the anonymous Viktor Gyökeres was replaced by Havertz.
Gabriel Magalhães had a golden opportunity to settle it for Arsenal 13 minutes from time when he connected with Hincapié’s cross but Cucurella was able to block with his head. Chelsea felt that they should have had a penalty when Palmer’s free-kick struck Havertz in the wall, even if replays showed the ball hit his shoulder.
Their best chance came when Wesley Fofana volleyed wide at the near post from the resulting corner. It was left to Havertz to make sure of Arsenal’s victory when he rounded Sánchez to seal their place in the final to the delight of their trophy-starved supporters.
