Arsenal’s dream season just gained another defining chapter, a return to Wembley Stadium.
A stoppage-time strike by Kai Havertz against his former club lifted Arsenal to a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday, completing a 4-2 aggregate triumph and booking a place in the English League Cup final.
Still chasing its first trophy since 2020, Mikel Arteta’s side is setting the pace elsewhere. Arsenal leads the Premier League by six points in a bid to reclaim the title for the first time since 2004 and powered through the Champions League standings with eight straight victories to finish top.
The momentum does not stop there. Arsenal has also advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup, underlining a season that is rapidly turning into something special.
“The last three or four years we’ve been at the top of the Premier League competing and got really close but haven’t been good enough,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said, referring to the team’s three straight runner-up finishes.
“That’s why this season we have that extra desire and fire in our bellies to go one step further in every competition. There’s a long way to go, but to be in a cup final with this club is amazing.”
Arsenal will play Manchester City or Newcastle in the March 22 final. City leads 2-0 heading into the second leg at home on Wednesday.
Havertz played for Chelsea from 2020-23, and his finish that sealed the two-legged win over his old club echoed the goal that clinched the Champions League title for the Stamford Bridge club in 2021.
Introduced as a 69th-minute substitute, the German forward had the final say when he latched onto Rice’s pass on a counterattack, rounded goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and slotted home.
It was virtually the last kick of a scrappy, cagey match that contrasted with Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge last month.
Chelsea was content to soak up pressure for the opening hour and stay in the contest.
The visitors then brought on Cole Palmer and Brazilian winger Estevao in an attempt to push forward but found the league’s best defense too sturdy to breach, managing only long-range efforts and a couple of dangerous set pieces.
Arsenal is chasing a third League Cup title after triumphs in 1987 and 1993. The club has finished runner-up six times, most recently to City in 2018.
It would be a second trophy under Arteta and the first since 2020, when Arsenal won the FA Cup at the end of his first season as manager.
Arsenal is seeking silverware to validate its steady rise under the Spanish coach. Aside from near-misses in the Premier League, the team has endured four straight semifinal exits in various competitions, including a loss to Newcastle in last season’s League Cup.
