Arsenal reaches English League Cup final
What’s shaping up to be a banner season for Arsenal will include a trip to Wembley Stadium for the English League Cup final. Kai Havertz scored in stoppage time against his former club to earn Arsenal a 1-0 win over visiting Chelsea on Tuesday, sealing a 4-2 victory on aggregate. Without a trophy since 2020, Mikel Arteta’s team leads the Premier League by six points in its bid to become English champion for a first time since 2004, and also finished top of the Champions League standings after eight straight wins.
For good measure, Arsenal has advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup, too. “The last three or four years we’ve been at the top of the Premier League competing and got really close but haven’t been good enough,” said Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, referring to the team’s three straight runner-up finishes. “That’s why this season we have that extra desire and fire in our bellies to go one step further in every competition. There’s a long way to go but to be in a cup final with this club is amazing.” Arsenal will play Manchester City or Newcastle in the March 22 final. City leads 2-0 heading into the second leg at home on Wednesday.
Havertz has final say: Havertz played for Chelsea from 2020-23 and his finish that sealed the two-legged win over his old club wasn’t too dissimilar to the one which saw off Man City and clinched the Champions League title for the Stamford Bridge club in 2021. Having come on as a 69th-minute substitute on Tuesday, the German forward had the final say when he latched onto Rice’s pass on a counterattack and rounded goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to slot home. It was virtually the last kick of a scrappy and cagey match that was a contrast to Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge last month.
Chelsea was happy to soak up pressure for the opening hour and stay in the contest. The visitors then brought on Cole Palmer and Brazilian winger Estevao in an attempt to take the game to Arsenal but found the best defense in England too sturdy to breach, only managing long-range efforts and a couple of dangerous set-pieces.
Arteta’s trophy hunt: Arsenal will be looking for a third League Cup title, after 1987 and 1993. The club has been the runner-up six times, most recently to City in 2018.
