Gyo-goal Ignites Blue Touch Paper

WHITE HOT, ZUBI COOL, GYÖKERES CLINICAL — ADVANTAGE ARSENAL

A Carabao Cup semi-final should feel like this: frantic, fearless, faintly ridiculous. And under the lights at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal did exactly what knockout football demands — scored when it mattered, bent without breaking, and left town with something precious stuffed into the kitbag. A breathless 3–2 win over Chelsea gives us a one-goal lead to bring back to the Emirates on February 3.

This was not control. This was not serenity. This was chaos — curated just enough to keep the tie tilted our way.

WHITE HOT

Eight changes from Portsmouth? No problem. Set pieces remain our quiet obsession, and seven minutes in they paid out again. Declan Rice swung it in, Robert Sánchez flapped, and Ben White did the rest — powering home our 24th set-piece goal of the season and reminding Chelsea that he rather enjoys scoring against them.

The early strike dragged the hosts forward whether they liked it or not. Enzo Fernández tested Kepa Arrizabalaga, but we were sharper in the spaces. William Saliba pinged a beauty down the flank for Martin Zubimendi, whose cut-back nearly found Viktor Gyökeres — a deflection sparing Chelsea further early pain.

Set pieces kept rattling them. Zubimendi volleyed over, Saliba fizzed one just wide. The message was clear: we were here to hurt them.

END-TO-END

Down the left, Leandro Trossard and Jurrien Timber combined with real menace, while Chelsea's Estêvão flashed enough talent to keep Kepa busy. It was end-to-end without ever tipping fully out of our control — a dangerous place to live, but one we navigated.

EARLY GOALS, AGAIN

If the first half was a warning shot, the second began with a punch. A quick throw from White, Bukayo Saka released down the right, and White again — marauding, mischievous — drilled a low cross that Sánchez couldn't handle. Gyökeres, alive to the spill, tapped home. Ruthless.

Chelsea responded. Enzo wriggled free, the ball was lifted to the far post, and Alejandro Garnacho lashed in to halve the deficit. Momentum swung. The Bridge stirred. For a moment, the air felt thin.

ZUBI SHOWS CLASS

Enter calm. Mikel Merino arrived from the bench, Gabriel Martinelli stretched the pitch, and suddenly the game slowed — just long enough for quality to surface.

Saka slid Merino in, Merino drove, Gyökeres held it up beautifully, and Zubimendi — ice in the veins — guided a composed finish into the corner. A proper team goal. A proper semi-final moment.

Merino nearly added a fourth, denied only by a sprawling Sánchez. But this was never going to be comfortable. Chelsea struck again from a corner not cleared, Garnacho smashing home to set up the inevitable grandstand finish.

HOLDING OUR NERVE

Late pressure came. Noise came. But panic did not. We saw it out. Not perfectly. Not prettily. But effectively — and in knockout football, that's the currency that matters.

A one-goal lead. A second leg at home. Everything still to do — but crucially, everything still in our hands.

WHAT'S NEXT

Attention turns back to the league on Saturday, January 17, with a 5.30pm kick-off at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest, before we complete a run of four straight away games with a Champions League trip to face Inter at San Siro on Tuesday, January 20.

But for now? Enjoy this. White hot. Zubi cool. Tie alive — and tilted our way.

Martinelli Milestone

Fratton Park doesn't often host coronations, but on this blustery cup afternoon it staged one all the same. Gabriel Martinelli – scorer of goals, collector of bruises, patron saint of relentless running – finally got his Arsenal hat-trick. And it came the hard way: from behind, under pressure, in front of a bouncing lower-league crowd who thought, briefly, they were about to write their own FA Cup fairytale.

Portsmouth scored early. Too early. Two and a half minutes early. A scramble, a parry, a rebound, and suddenly the home end was in full throat as Colby Bishop reacted quickest. Cue the predictable narrative: "Cup upset brewing… Arsenal rattled… magic of the FA Cup™".

Except this Arsenal side doesn't really do panic anymore.

⚽ 

Set-Piece FC (And Proud of It)

Eight minutes in, the mood shifted. Corner. Chaos. Flicks. A clearance that wasn't. André Dozzell, unfortunately for him, became the answer to a pub quiz question nobody wants to be in. Own goal. Level. Calm restored.

From there, it felt inevitable. Portsmouth were game, credit to them, but they were also playing with a defensive weakness that Arsenal prodded like a loose tooth. Another corner. Another crowd in the six-yard box. Another delivery into danger. Martinelli at the near post. Bang. 2–1. Turnaround complete inside 25 minutes.

And Arsenal smelled blood.

😬 

The One That Got Away (For About 20 Minutes)

Martinelli could have had two more before the break. One curled just wide with the keeper stranded. One nudged against the post from an angle so tight it looked illegal. And then came the moment: penalty. Chance to kill the game. Noni Madueke steps up… and sends it wide.

Groans. Hands on heads. Fratton Park briefly re-engaged Dream Mode.

They shouldn't have bothered.

🔥 

The Second-Half Statement

Six minutes after the restart, Arsenal reminded everyone why this is a team chasing trophies on four fronts. Quick thinking. Quick free-kick. Gabriel Jesus free down the side. Pull-back. Martinelli tap-in. Brace secured. Resistance fading.

From there it became about moments rather than momentum. A curler blocked. Debuts and returns. Kai Havertz back on the pitch, rust shaking off with every touch. Portsmouth still trying, to their credit, but Arsenal in control.

And then, fittingly, the final word.

Another corner. Another Madueke assist. Another leap. Another header. Martinelli, above everyone, powering it home like a man who knew exactly what this meant. Hat-trick. Matchball. Career milestone sealed in navy-blue skies.

🏆 

History, Youth, and What Comes Next

There was even time for history on top of history: Marli Salmon becoming Arsenal's youngest-ever FA Cup player at 16 years and 135 days. Because this club, even when chasing silverware, keeps one eye on the future.

Havertz nearly added a fairytale return with the last kick. He didn't. It didn't matter.

This was Martinelli's day.

From early setback to total control. From chaos to clarity. From promise to proof.

Next up? Chelsea away in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Then Nottingham Forest. Then the San Siro. Four competitions. Four away days. Four fronts.

And if Gabriel Martinelli keeps writing chapters like this, Arsenal's season might yet end with more than just memories of a hat-trick at Fratton Park.

Damp Squib At Home

Arsenal 0–0 Liverpool: Six Clear, But No Spark

Six points clear at the summit, eight unbeaten, and still somehow walking away feeling a little short-changed. Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Liverpool at the Emirates on a night that promised fire but delivered frost.

Against the reigning champions, this was more about control than creativity. Chances were scarce, rhythm elusive, and although the point stretches our lead at the top, it was one of those evenings where you half-expected something dramatic that never quite arrived.

EARLY PRESSURE

On a wet, windy and properly wintry night in north London, the pre-match message blared loud and clear: Home Is Where The Heat Is. The Emirates glowed red and white at kick-off, and for the first 20 minutes the players responded.

We penned Liverpool back early. Declan Rice swung a deep cross towards the far post and Jurrien Timber nodded it back across goal — begging for a poacher's touch that never came. Bukayo Saka then lit up the right flank, skinning Milos Kerkez, darting to the byline and fizzing a low cross that arrived just behind Martin Zubimendi. Moments later, Saka tested Alisson from range, but the Brazilian smothered it cleanly despite the greasy surface.

It felt like the start of something. It turned out to be the peak.

BRADLEY HITS THE BAR

As the storm clouds eased, so did our grip. Liverpool steadied themselves and began to see more of the ball — and very nearly punished us.

A rare moment of miscommunication saw William Saliba's backpass put David Raya under pressure. The clearance was hurried, straight into the path of Conor Bradley, who delicately lifted his shot over Raya and onto the bar. Timber, again alert, threw himself in the way of Cody Gakpo's follow-up.

At the other end, Rice fizzed a low effort that was comfortably saved, and Saka found himself crowded out just as he shaped to shoot. After that bright opening, the half fizzled into something far more forgettable.

LIVERPOOL PEG US BACK

If the first half drifted, the second half stalled completely. No shots from either side until the hour mark, when Dominik Szoboszlai ballooned a free-kick into the night sky.

Liverpool were now on top, hogging possession — close to 75% after the break — with Jeremie Frimpong's pace causing the odd moment of unease down our right. Mikel Arteta rolled the dice, introducing Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Ebere Eze and Noni Madueke in search of incision.

Madueke's first involvement was encouraging: a sharp, low cross fizzed across the six-yard box, crying out for a touch that never came. Szoboszlai curled another free-kick narrowly wide as the clock ticked down.

In stoppage time we finally stirred. Jesus forced a save with a late header, Martinelli flashed an effort from a tight angle — and that, frustratingly, was that.

THE VERDICT

Not pretty. Not fluent. But not damaging either.

On a night when we were well short of our attacking best, the clean sheet mattered. The point matters. Six points clear still matters. Title races are built on nights like these as much as the glamorous ones — even if this felt like two points left somewhere in the cold.

WHAT'S NEXT

There's no time to brood. We now face a relentless run: four away games, four competitions, ten days.

First, it's Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the FA Cup third round on Sunday. Then comes a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg away to Chelsea next Wednesday. Premier League duty follows at Nottingham Forest before a Champions League trip to Inter Milan.

No heat at home this time — just pressure on the road.