Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 and set up an EFL Cup final clash with Manchester City thanks to Granit Xhaka’s second-half winner at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge set the second leg up nicely and, although neither side was at their best, Arsenal showed the greater character in their first outing since Alexis Sanchez’s departure as they battled back from an early deficit to book their passage to Wembley.
The opening exchanges were particularly eventful as Pedro saw a goal chalked off just before setting up Eden Hazard for the opener after only seven minutes.
An Arsenal equaliser followed soon after, though, as Antonio Rudiger scored an own goal that he knew little about, with Nacho Monreal’s header hitting Marcos Alonso and then going in off the German.
The second period was rather less open as the contest became more bogged down in midfield, but Arsenal – who were without the cup-tied Henrikh Mkhitaryan – took full advantage when a chance presented itself on the hour as Xhaka prodded Arsene Wenger’s men into the lead.
Chelsea poured men forward towards the end in a desperate attempt to force an extra 30 minutes and that almost allowed Arsenal to get a third through Alex Iwobi, though the Gunners were not made to rue his miss as they successfully held on to set up a finale with City on February 25.
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