Arsenal fought back from a goal down against old foes Chelsea to reach the League Cup final as Granit Xhaka poked home to complete a 2-1 second-leg win on Wednesday that set up a Wembley showdown with Manchester City.
Nothing separated the sides after the semi-final’s first leg at Stamford Bridge ended goalless two weeks ago, but the stalemate was swiftly broken as Chelsea took the lead through Eden Hazard after seven minutes at the Emirates Stadium.
Yet question marks about Arsenal’s steel in the face of adversity were swept away as they levelled five minutes later through a fortuitous Antonio Rudiger own goal before they turned the match on its head.
Midfielder Xhaka turned predator 15 minutes after half-time to finish from close range and Arsenal stayed rock-solid at the back for the rest of the game to set up an enticing final against City on Feb. 25.