Chelsea missed out on a place in the Carabao Cup final as they failed to find a breakthrough in the second leg of their semi-final with Arsenal before eventually losing 1-0 on Tuesday to fall to a 4-2 aggregate defeat. The Blues defended resolutely and had the better of the game in the second half, but couldn’t create enough opportunities before Kai Havertz put the tie to bed in stoppage time.
Liam Rosenior deployed a back three in a bid to keep the game tight, and it was just that during the first half as chances proved to be at a premium. Robert Sanchez was forced into one save when he pushed away Piero Hincapie’s curling effort from the edge of the box, while Enzo Fernandez produced a similar effort shortly before half-time that was parried by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Estevao, Cole Palmer and – latterly – Alejandro Garnacho were introduced by the visitors after the break, but opportunities to score remained few and far between. Fernandez fired a couple of efforts over the bar while Wesley Fofana flicked a corner wide of the near post, but the Blues couldn’t find the equaliser they needed in the tie. It was instead left to Havertz to finish the job for the hosts, as he rounded Sanchez to score with the final kick of the match.
