CHELSEA were beaten 1-0 at the Emirates as Arsenal booked their place in the League Cup final.
Liam Rosenior‘s side went into the semi-final second leg trailing 3-2 from the first encounter at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues huffed and puffed in their pursuit of a leveller on the night.
But when they threw everyone forward in stoppage time, Blues old boy Kai Havertz came back to haunt them by netting on the counter.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jack Rosser rated each Chelsea performer on the night.
Robert Sanchez – 6
The Spaniard made an impressive, if a touch dramatic, save to deny Piero Hincapie in the first half.
Sanchez had nothing to do until the final seconds when Kai Havertz broke through, and with everyone pushing for a late goal he cannot be blamed for the goal.
Wesley Fofana – 7
There were no driving runs and stellar assists this time out for Fofana after his display against West Ham.
But the defender was near faultless in dealing with whichever Arsenal forward came his way.
Trevoh Chalobah – 7
Started at the heart of Chelsea’s back three, the academy graduate fought well against Viktor Gyokeres, ensuring it was another disappointing night for Arsenal’s striker.
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He made a superb sliding challenge to stop Gabriel Martinelli late on and would have had a clean sheet were it not for Havertz’s late strike.
Jorrel Hato – 7
A composed performance from the Dutchman. Rosenior has used him as a left-back so far but was confident enough to have Hato as part of his back three here.
The ex-Ajax man battled well and showed a calm head when on the ball under pressure deep in his own half.
Malo Gusto – 7
Playing out at right wing-back Gusto showed some fine one-on-one defending to stop Gabriel Martinelli just after the half-hour mark.
There were a few direct balls down Chelsea’s right from Arsenal in the first half as they looked to cause trouble but Gusto was a match for them.
Moises Caicedo – 5
Once again what was supposed to be a midfield battle between Caicedo and Declan Rice failed to materialise.
Having been sent off in their Premier League meeting, the Blues midfielder was rather anonymous here – no blood and thunder duels with his Arsenal opposite number.
Andrey Santos – 5
We had expected to see a bit more of Santos under Rosenior but this was a big chance for the Brazilian.
While he did his job in the middle, there was little beyond that. Nothing too special in terms of breaking the Gunners up and certainly nothing of note when it came to creating chances going the other way.
Enzo Fernandez – 6
The Argentine registered Chelsea’s only shot on target of the evening with a long-range first half effort.
Fernandez was perhaps their most creative force after the break too, though that is from a very low bar.
Marc Cucurella – 7
The full-back was booed every time he picked up the ball by a tetchy Arsenal crowd, but did very well against former teammate Noni Madueke – keeping the winger very quiet. Cucurella also made a fine block from William Saliba late in the second half.
Liam Delap – 4
Deployed in an unusual right-wing role, one he had sometimes played under Rosenior during their time together at Hull.
The striker worked hard and was involved in some physical battles but made next to no impact in terms of attacking output or quality.
Joao Pedro – 6
Worked tirelessly all night long and battled with Arsenal’s brutish defence until the end but was given very little in the way of service and struggled to craft chances for himself.
Substitutes
Estevao Willian (Hato, 60′) – 5
Back from personal leave in Brazil and named on the bench, Estevao got busy in trying to make things happen following his introduction but could never really get a grip on proceedings and was rather shoved about by the Gunners.
Cole Palmer (Delap, 60′) – 5
Chelsea offered more of a threat following his introduction as Palmer looked to get them playing forwards but it was another frustrating and rather flat performance from Chelsea’s most talented player.
Alejandro Garnacho (Santos, 74′) – 4
Having scored twice in the first leg, Arsenal fans may have feared he could cause trouble off the bench – but the winger offered nothing, cutting back almost every time he had the chance to push on and create a much needed opening.
Josh Acheampong (Gusto, 87′) – n/a
