Arsenal fought back from a goal down against old foes Chelsea to reach the League Cup final as Granit Xhaka poked home to complete a 2-1 second-leg win on Wednesday that set up a Wembley showdown with Manchester City.
Nothing separated the sides after the semi-final’s first leg at Stamford Bridge ended goalless two weeks ago, but the stalemate was swiftly broken as Chelsea took the lead through Eden Hazard after seven minutes at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has faced perennial questions about his side’s steel in the face of adversity, but these were swept away as they levelled five minutes later through a fortuitous Antonio Rudiger own goal before they turned the match on its head.
Midfielder Xhaka turned predator 15 minutes after halftime to finish from close range and Arsenal stayed rock-solid at the back for the rest of the game to set up an enticing final against Premier League leaders City on Feb 25.
Arsenal had been under the cosh for much of the first half but they came out after the break a changed side, taking the game to their visitors, says a Reuters report.
The sides were meeting for the fifth time this season and it was clear that familiarity had bred a certain degree of contempt as the tackles flew in during a fiercely contested opening.
Arsenal had lost only one of their previous seven games against Chelsea, but were quickly under pressure as Hazard put the visitors ahead, calmly stroking the ball past David Ospina after Chelsea carved open the hosts’ backline.
It was Chelsea’s first defeat since Dec 9, yet they have now failed to win six out of their last seven games, excluding their penalty shootout win over Norwich in the FA Cup.
“There is a big disappointment ... there was great will to play at Wembley,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said.
