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.
No comments:
Post a Comment