Arsène Wenger celebrated reaching the Carabao Cup final last night after his Arsenal side came from behind to defeat Chelsea 2-1 in the semi-final, second leg.
The Frenchman can lift his fourth domestic cup in five seasons — after three FA Cup triumphs — when Arsenal play Manchester City at Wembley on February 25, the same day that they were scheduled to meet in the Premier League.
Arsenal benefited from deflections from Antonio Rüdiger for each goal after Eden Hazard had given the visiting side a deserved lead in the tie inside seven minutes. Nacho Monreal’s header from a corner clipped the face of Marcos Alonso and flew on to the head of Rüdiger and past a flat-footed Willy Caballero. After the interval, Alexandre Lacazette’s attempted pull-back ricocheted off the Chelsea defender and across the face of the six-yard box for Granit Xhaka to poke home.
Wenger has never won the League Cup, losing in the final to Chelsea in 2007 and through a late defensive blunder to Birmingham City four years later. “It is unfinished business, yes, because we didn’t win,” he said. “But we are at Wembley and we can take our fans there.
“We are in it and we want to win it. We will play against a very strong side, so it could become a very interesting game. The best way to prepare is first, to get back in the top four in the Premier League and so before we play the final we have a big job in front of us.”
Advertisement
Arsenal were defeated 3-1 by City in the league this season, but Wenger said that his side had proved that they could rise to the occasion last night and with victory in the FA Cup final last season.
He also had a dig at Alexis Sánchez for unsettling the club this month with his desire to leave.
“We showed that we can beat big teams,” he said. “That is most important, no matter what competition. Both teams went for it. It’s a great, satisfying night for us because we managed to beat a strong team and I felt that in January we paid a heavy price for uncertainty that was existing in our dressing room. We are back with more clarity, we know what we have to do and we can focus on our game.”
Arsenal have had a second offer worth more than £50 million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rejected by Borussia Dortmund and are pursuing a deal for Jonny Evans, the West Bromwich Albion defender.
Chelsea’s only signing this month, Ross Barkley, made his debut after Willian suffered what is thought to be a mild hamstring injury.
Advertisement
Antonio Conte said that the need to strengthen his Chelsea squad had been apparent since last summer, regardless of the result, adding that he had little control over the transfers. “I think the club decide our transfer market,” Conte said. “From the summer, the club decides every single player. It is not right for only one game to make the decision [on players]. There is a programme, there is a plan. The situation is the same from this summer, not now.
“Sometimes I can have an impact and sometimes I can’t. For sure, I don’t have a big impact on the transfer market.”
