Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1 (2-1 agg): Xhaka caps Gunners comeback to fire them back to Wembley
THEY are not finished. Not yet, anyway.
Arsenal, the greatest selling club in the history of English football, are back where they belong.
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD 16 Granit Xhaka secured Arsenal a place at Wembley in the Carabao Cup Final.
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD 16 The Swiss star fired home on the hour mark as the Gunners came back from behind to defeat Chelsea.
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD 16 Arsene Wenger and his men will meet City at Wembley on February 25.
Arsene Wenger loves Wembley.
Arsenal are heading there yet again, returning to the national stadium on February 25 for the Carabao Cup final.
They beat Chelsea to do it, recovering from a goal down at the Emirates to force their way through inside 90 minutes.
In terms of recovery, this is right up there.
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD 16 Eden Hazard broke the deadlock to fire the Blues ahead at the Emirates.
The Belgian beat the offside trap to fire Chelsea into the lead after just seven minutes.
The heart was beating fast last night, quickened when Granit Xhaka put Arsenal ahead after an hour.
They held out, barely troubled as Chelsea failed to respond to the challenge.
They had gone ahead when Eden Hazard scored after seven minutes, but began to fall apart when Arsenal equalised with a fluky own goal.
Wenger will not worry about that and neither should he.
Cup finals keep people quiet, silencing the dissenters by leading back to Wembley next month.
It is there where they will play Manchester City, running into Pep Guardiola's side a showpiece game.
Last season, when Wenger was fighting to convince people he was the right man to lead Arsenal, they beat City in the FA Cup semi-final.
They have nothing to fear.
Nacho Monreal helped to get Arsenal on level terms moments after the opener.
The Spanish defender saw his header deflect off Marcos Alonso and then Antonio Rudiger before nestling in the net.
It was a miserable night for the Chelsea defence at Arsenal.
Arsenal were excellent, seeing off the threat of Chelsea in this blood-curdling second leg.
They are over Alexis Sanchez, shaking him off with an impressive win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, then following it up with this belting result.
Chelsea, in front after seven minutes, are turning into an imitation.
Sure they went in front, with the sort of strike that you will never tire of watching back.
Hazard's seventh minute opener, crisply finishing beyond David Ospina, was slick and impressive.
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It was dreamy stuff, sending Arsenal's defence out for a hot dog with a clever dummy that found Pedro outside the area.
His through ball was precise, threading his pass into Hazard to run on to beating Arsenal's keeper.
It was Hazard at his finest.
What a start to this second leg.
VAR had already saved Arsenal, rescuing them when Pedro rose unchallenged inside the area to steer a header beyond Ospina.
It was all Chelsea, but for some reason it did not last.
They had looked so good, picking up from Saturday's thumping 4-0 win at Brighton and bossing it inside the Emirates.
Arsenal struggled to hold them off.
Nacho Monreal helped to spark the stunning Arsenal comeback.
Then came the revival, the route back into the Carabao Cup semi-final with an unfortunate own goal that bounced impossibly off the heads of Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger before landing in the back of Willy Caballero's net.
Nacho Monreal claimed it, but Arsenal's left-back knows that this was a slice of luck that you need in a semi-final - It was a crazy, chaotic start.
Caballero had already done well to save from little Jack Wilshere, saving at his feet before flicking the ball away before Monreal could get to it.
Conte was forced into a change after half an hour, sending for Ross Barkley for his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt after Willian pulled up lame.
Laurent Koscielny introduced him to this fiery London derby when he shoved him into the advertising hoardings.
They were taking it in turns, with Wilshere the next to have a crack when he took him clean out on the halfway line.
Wilshere, eager to show Gareth Southgate that he is a better bet for a World Cup wildcard, was booked.
He deserved to be.
Arsenal picked it up, with Mesut Ozil sending an effort wide of Caballero's post on the stroke of half-time.
Manchester City, Caballero's former club, are lying in wait for the winners.
Willian was forced off injured in the first half for Chelsea.
Ross Barkley replaced him for his Chelsea debut but was later subbed himself in the second period.
Antonio Conte looks distraught after his Blues blew it.
Chelsea livened it up at the start of the second half, with Hazard the driving force behind a series of breaks.
Xhaka, much-maligned by Arsenal fans, halted the first with a brilliant recovery tackle on the edge of the area.
It brought back memories of Sol Campbell, the sort of challenge that the big man used to make for fun when he was in his pomp.
Hazard came back for more, clearing the Arsenal defence with his next goalbound run.
Granit Xhaka sent the Gooners into delirium with his matchwinning strike.
Antonio Rudiger will want to get his night in a hurry.
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