Kai Havertz nets late winner as Arsenal beat Chelsea to reach Carabao Cup final

Kai Havertz scored the winner deep in stoppage time as Arsenal edged one step closer to ending their trophy drought by securing a 1-0 semi-final second-leg win against Chelsea to book their place in the final of the Carabao Cup.

Mikel Arteta’s side already carried a 3-2 advantage from the opening game at Stamford Bridge to north London.

And former Chelsea player Havertz made sure of Arsenal’s progression to next month’s showpiece at Wembley – their first final since they won the FA Cup in 2020 – when he rounded goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to score with the last kick of the game.

Arsenal are six points clear in the race for the Premier League, and through to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a perfect record in Europe.

And the Carabao Cup will now present them with their first chance to lift a trophy this season, and just the second of Arteta’s six-year reign.

Standing in Arteta’s way on March 22 is likely to be his old club, Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola’s side holding a two-goal lead over Newcastle heading into Wednesday’s return leg at the Etihad Stadium.

The opening contest of the last-four encounter at Stamford Bridge was a goal fest, but with next month’s final on the line, this was a significantly cagier affair.

Liam Rosenior, who prior to Tuesday night had masterminded five consecutive wins, deployed five players across Chelsea’s backline to nullify Arsenal’s threat, and it worked with Piero Hincapie recording the hosts’ sole shot of the first half when he forced Sanchez into a decent save from range after 18 minutes.

Arsenal’s success from set-pieces has been well-documented in recent times. But for each of their corners here, Chelsea pushed three players forward, and as many red shirts were forced to follow. It had the desired effect with Arsenal lacking their usual set-piece potency.

Then, as half-time approached, former Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga punched clear Enzo Fernandez’s strike from distance.

Into the second half and the advantage was still with Arsenal, but while the Blues remained within one goal the last-four tie continued to hang in the balance.

Cole Palmer and Estevao were introduced on the hour mark as Chelsea went in search of levelling the match on aggregate before Marc Cucurella and then Fernandez tried their luck, unsuccessfully, from range.

Arsenal were starting to show some jitters, and Declan Rice urged his team-mates, and quite possibly the crowd, too, to calm down in what was proving an increasingly feisty affair.

With 14 minutes remaining, Gabriel had a decent chance to put Arsenal in the clear, but his header from Martin Zubimendi’s cross was diverted away from danger by Cucurella.

At the other end, Wesley Fofana’s flick from a corner flashed past Kepa’s near post. Fernandez then flashed an effort high and wide in the 90th minute with six additional minutes to be played.

The visitors pushed and probed, but in truth, never looked like getting the goal to force extra time, and in the end it was Havertz who picked up Rice’s pass before delivering a composed finish as Arsenal’s impressive season goes from strength-to-strength.