In the vibrant duel corresponding to the Carabao Cup semi-finals, Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridgegiving itself an important advantage in the face of the second leg that will be played on February 3 at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners knew how to take advantage of their moments and punished the local mistakes to emerge victorious in an intense London derby full of ups and downs.
Arsenal soon took the initiative and opened the scoring in the minute 7when Ben White headed into the back of the net after a precise corner from Declan Ricesilenced the stands and put the visitors ahead. After the break, already in the 49th minute, Viktor Gyökeres took advantage of a gift from the goalkeeper to push the ball into an empty goal and extend the leadforcing Chelsea to rethink their offensive strategy.
Chelsea’s reaction came with the entry of Alejandro Garnachowho closed the gap in ’57’ with a shot after a cross from Pedro Neto, waking up the locals and putting the rival defense on alert. However, Arsenal struck again: in the 71st minute, Martín Zubimendi completed a good transition with a shot from inside the area to restore the two-goal lead and maintain control of the match.
Although Garnacho appeared again to make it 2‑3 in the 83rd minutekeeping the tie alive, time was not enough for Chelsea to find an equalizer. The result left the Gunners with a slight but valuable advantage heading into the second leg, while Chelsea will have to improve their defensive solidity if they want to come back at the Emirates.
