Arsenal are through to the Carabao Cup final following last night’s 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.The Gunners set up a meeting at Wembley Stadium against Manchester City next month with a hard-fought win over the Blues.The match got off to an incredibly fast start with two goals in the opening 11 minutes.Eden Hazard made Chelsea’s early pressure count when he opened the scoring, the Belgian latching onto Pedro’s through ball and tucking the ball past David Ospina.But the hosts trailed for just four minutes, their equaliser coming in rather unusual circumstances.A Mesut Ozil corner was headed towards goal by Nacho Monreal and the ball cannoned off both Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger before bouncing into the net.Arsene Wenger changed Arsenal’s formation at half-time, moving Mohamed Elneny into a back-three to combat the threat posed by Hazard, and the Gunners took control of the match from there.Granit Xhaka poked the ball home on the hour mark and the hosts held on to reach the final.
What Arsenal fans were tweeting Alexis Sanchez
It was Arsenal’s first match following confirmation that Alexis Sanchez has joined Manchester United and Gunners’ supporters wasted no time in taunting Sanchez on Twitter.
Arsenal fans sent the Chilean a barrage of messages celebrating their progression to the final.
Of course, this could easily blow up in their faces. Arsenal will enter the final on February 25 as underdogs, although Wenger will remind his players about last season’s win over Man City in the FA Cup semi-final.
Wenger: We beat a strong team
The Frenchman admitted after the win that Sanchez’s transfer saga caused some unrest inside Arsenal’s dressing room.
But he’s confident that his players have now moved on.
“It’s a great satisfying night for us,” Wenger added. “We managed to beat a strong team.
“In January we paid a heavy price for uncertainty in the dressing room - now we are back.”
The Gunners’ boss also said he would be content if a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang didn’t materialise.
“The best is I don’t talk about that,” he added. “If something happens, it happens.
“If not I’m perfectly happy with the squad I have.”
Yet the chance to get his hands on some silverware will certainly appeal to Aubameyang.