It took Arsenal some pain and effort, but The Gunners have secured a place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. During regular playing time, Walter Benítez proved to be an obstacle, after which a flawless penalty shootout followed. After sixteen penalties, Arsenal finally came out on top.
Arsenal is the last club to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. Things did not go smoothly against Crystal Palace, partly because Walter Benítez turned out to be an obstacle, but in the final phase it still fell to The Gunners. As a result, Arsenal now awaits a meeting with city rivals Chelsea.
Arsenal did not start the match against Crystal Palace with its strongest team. Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyökeres all started on the bench. However, The Gunners were still able to field a decent team, including Jurriën Timber in the starting line-up. From the first minute the home team were in control and Palace had little choice but to hold back.
Former PSV goalkeeper Walter Benítez is normally Crystal Palace’s second goalkeeper, but in the League Cup he is always under the bar. The Argentinian performed well several times in the first half, although the quality of Arsenal’s goal attempts also left much to be desired on several occasions. Noni Madueke had the most chances, but Benítez always had an answer. Timber also became dangerous, but pushed the ball wide.
The score was still on the scoreboard at halftime. After the break the game pattern remained the same, although Palace also became dangerous on occasion. However, there was no scoring for a long time. Because there is no extra time in the EFL Cup, the match headed to penalties. But that seemed to change in the eightieth minute. In the scramble, the ball eventually went in for Arsenal via Palace defender Maxence Lacroix. The Frenchman scored an own goal.
However, it was not yet over: in injury time, Marc Guéhi worked the ball behind Kepa Arrizabalaga. As a result, the match ended 1-1 and penalties had to be taken. Both teams did this flawlessly: the first five penalties from both Arsenal and Palace hit the target, resulting in a sudden death. Arsenal and Palace also kept a cool head in this. Jurriën Timber was placed seventh on behalf of the home team and shot his penalty flawlessly into the top corner. Things finally went wrong on penalty kick sixteen: schlemiel Lacroix missed.
As a result, The Gunners can report in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. They will compete against city rivals Chelsea. Manchester City and defending champion Newcastle United face each other in the other semi-final.
