Arsenal Edge Chelsea 3-2 to End Semi-Final Curse
Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 in the Carabao Cup, moving closer to a final and ending a semi-final hoodoo. Mikel Arteta hails team effort and Gyokeres’ goal.
After failing to win a single leg in their last four two-legged semi-finals, a 3-2 victory against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup has put them just one game away from a major final for the first time since winning the FA Cup in 2020.
The Gunners had lost their last four semi-finals over two legs, scoring just two goals in total, but they will now be strong favorites to end their semi-final hoodoo at the Emirates Stadium on February 3.
Arteta's side have been in superb form this season – sitting top of both the Premier League and Champions League, and having reached the fourth round of the FA Cup.
This game was Arsenal's 32nd of the season and they have only lost twice, both times away from home in the Premier League against Liverpool and Aston Villa.
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But Arteta and his players feel their winning margin could have been even bigger ahead of the second leg as they look to secure an early opportunity to lift silverware in the EFL Cup final on March 22.
Arteta said: “First of all, I have to praise the players for the performance, for the game that we just played against a very good team.
“Despite having so much quality on that pitch, after 1-3 and after our very dominant performance at that time, we felt we had two big chances to score the fourth goal and the outcome would have been very different.
“But in that moment they made an action, they created a corner, they scored a goal and the game was on. So that feeling is not perfect, but we also have to look at what the team has done again.”
A much-needed positive night for Gyökeres
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Striker Viktor Gyökeres hasn't had the start to his Arsenal career he would have wanted since his £64m summer move from Sporting. The Sweden forward hadn't scored since a penalty against Everton last month, and his goal against Chelsea was his first from open play since November.
The 27-year-old has looked short of confidence in recent weeks, but his performance in this game was reminiscent of the player who scored 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting.
He also assisted Martin Zubimendi, who scored Arsenal's third goal to give them a lead going into the second leg at the Emirates.
"This is what I need to do and I can do it more often. We won today and we keep going," Gyökeres said.
"It's still the second leg, but it's good to come away with a win and a lead for the second leg – but we have to perform well in the second game as well.
"I think it was a tough game. We defended well. They are, as always, dangerous on the counter-attack, but I think we defended well. It was unfortunate to concede two goals, but offensively we scored three, so I'm happy with that."
Could it have been better?
When the Gunners were 2-0 up, it looked like they could score whenever they wanted.
However, Alejandro Garnacho pulled one back for Chelsea to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
Zubimendi's superb finish restored Arsenal's two-goal lead for the second time in the match, but again the Gunners let it slip with Garnacho's second goal.
Taking a two-goal lead to the Emirates, where Arsenal are unbeaten all season, would have put the Gunners in a very strong position, but Chelsea are still very much in this tie.
"We didn't play very well in the second half and let them put too much pressure on us," said goalscorer Ben White.
"That's how we conceded the goals. It wasn't up to our standards." "The second half was a bit disappointing, but we got the win." However, despite the draw and Arteta's frustration in the latter stages of the game, the Arsenal boss is already focusing on his side's Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday (17:30 GMT).
The Spanish coach said: "In 20 minutes I'll start thinking about Forest and start preparing and making sure everyone recovers from this."
"That's our routine. I'm very happy with what we did tonight. Now forget about it and focus on the next game."
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