Mikel Arteta’s side will now face either Manchester City or Newcastle in the final at Wembley on 22 March.

Merson: Chelsea went out with a bang

Former Gunners midfielder Merson spoke afterwards: “I’m amazed. I can’t believe what I’ve just seen. This is Chelsea Football Club. They’ve got internationals, World Cup winners and they’ve got good players all over the pitch.

“This is not a bottom four or a bottom five team. It’s unbelievable and I’m lost for words. I can’t believe what’s happened. They just went out with an absolute bang in the semi-finals of a major competition. It would have been great if it worked, but it didn’t work and you can’t gamble like that. Go, and don’t like to go out. Go out.

It was a physical second leg with very little penalty box action, a situation that favored the home side. Chelsea had two shots on target with only one seriously testing Gunners goalkeeper Capa Arrizabalaga.

“They played in another gear,” Merson added of Chelsea. “It’s a cup semi-final. You’ve got to go out with a bang. I keep saying it but it’s not like a League One or League Two team comes to the Emirates to keep the score down. They’ve got players to mix with Arsenal and try to go, but they haven’t.

“There are ways to lose. If they had lost the game 3-0, and they scored a goal after a shot, Capa was brilliant in goal and they broke three times, you’re like, ‘That’s the way it is’.”

Rosenier defends Chelsea tactics

Rosenier’s approach was understandable given Arsenal’s pace on the counter and the ex-Strasbourg boss, who has worked for Sky in the past, reacted with dismay to Merson’s comments.

“I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “So, if I go and attack the game, press really high and we concede two goals early, everybody says, ‘What is he doing?’ That is the reality of my work. The reality of my job is that if you lose games, you will be criticized. If you win, you are a genius. It’s usually somewhere in between, I think.

“I’m very happy with the way our performance went, even if the result wasn’t what we wanted it to be tonight.”

I was encouraged by Chelsea’s performance – Rosenier

Chelsea have lost just two of Rosenier’s first eight games in charge – two ties against Arsenal – and he feels they are on the right track.

He added: “I’ve been here for less than a month. We had eight games in that month. So, for the players, first, to show what they’ve done, for me to learn and, by the way, the spirit, the unity, the fight in the team.

“There are a lot of encouraging signs. Now I need to see how we look after the setback. We need to react positively. We have a tough game at Wolves on Saturday and I need to see how we react to that.”