For the first time in six years, arsenal Taking part in an important final. This is a fantastic statistic when you consider the progress the Gunners have made under the team in recent years Mikel Arteta.

However, the top priority is to finally end their two-decade wait Premier League title, you might be able to forgive them for being a bit absent-minded in recent years.

However, there will be no disruption in 2025/26. Arteta’s side clearly mean business and there’s a good chance they can claim multiple honors at the end of the season.

After defeating Chelsea 4-2 on aggregate, they ended their losing streak in the semi-finals, which means they are still fighting on four fronts. Topping the Premier League, finishing top of the Champions League and reaching the Carabao Cup final, life isn’t getting any better for those at the Emirates Stadium.

How Arsenal beat Chelsea on Tuesday night

While Arsenal’s 3-2 win in the semi-final first leg was incredible, it wasn’t.

Fortunately, the home team did not score. The boring night was exactly how they envisioned it going. Liam Roney’s tactics are certainly interesting. His goal was to make the game as deep as possible, and his team certainly did that. The problem was that they never really tried and struggled to create many scoring chances.

Liam Delap serves as makeshift right winger but is locked out Piero HincapiAnd Blues forward Joao Pedro only touched the ball four times in the opposition penalty area and was well organized by the Arsenal defense throughout the evening.

In the end, Kai Havertz stole the show. As is often the case, Victor Chokeres didn’t really have his best night in an Arsenal shirt and became rather anonymous once again. However, Havertz replaced the Swede shortly after the end and had a game-changing impact.

The No. 29 has struggled with injuries over the past year and started his first Premier League game of the season against Leeds United last weekend. That was on top of a goal and an assist against Kairat Almaty in the Champions League a week ago, but his best moment since returning from injury was reserved for his former employers on Tuesday night.

Havertz didn’t have much to do when he came on, but his most telling contribution came with the final kick of the game.

Chelsea were swarming forward with a lot of players and on the counter-attack, Declan Rice broke through from the left and passed the ball past the last line of Chelsea’s defense to Havertz. He had a nice touch and with Gabriel Martinelli sprinting past him he had a chance to play against the Brazilian but ignored him.

Roberto Sanchez may have been waiting for a pass inside the Chelsea goal, but it was caught by the German, who danced around the Spanish goalkeeper before firing the ball into an empty net. His celebrations spoke volumes, as did the reaction from the fans at the Emirates Stadium – chaos.

Havertz pointed to the Arsenal crest. He roared and roared, and was quickly drowned out by his teammates. Arsenal reached the final, their first in six years, their first since the coronavirus pandemic and only their second in Arteta’s reign. Whether against Manchester City or Newcastle United, they will certainly head to Wembley at the end of March as favorites.

For Arsenal, they have just over a month to wait for this showcase event, but for Havertz, he certainly won’t have to wait long to earn a starting spot. If his performance against Leeds was less than impressive, he was outstanding against Kairat and Chelsea a week apart, which is why he is such an important member of this Arsenal team.

He must start at the weekend, and so must the entire defense against Chelsea. It’s safe to say they are excellent.

Arsenal’s defense performed well against Chelsea

Arsenal had a number of key players, but the highlight was undoubtedly the defensive performance, which saw the Gunners keep a 20th clean sheet in 38 games this season.

They were eliminated against Ronniol’s side in midweek, thanks in no small part to the performances of William Saliba and Gabriel, who once again proved why they are two of the best defenders in Europe this season.

Gabriel was the stand-in captain in the absence of Martin Odegaard and his performance was outstanding and showed why Arteta gave him the captain’s armband. Saliba and Gabriel won 12 of the 19 matches between them, with Gabriel’s pass completion rate 95% and Saliba’s pass completion rate 92%.

That being said, despite their performances, summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen Hincapie is undoubtedly the best defender of the bunch and perhaps Arsenal’s best player of the match.

Hincapie had a somewhat rocky start at Arsenal. He was signed late in the transfer window, being Andrea Berta’s final move of the summer, and will feature either as a centre-back or left-back.

He has been particularly crucial during Arsenal’s injury crisis, with the defender becoming an important part of the squad, playing at the back when Gabriel was out for several months.

He looked a little shaky and nervous for a while, but now he seems to be finally back to normal and his performance against Chelsea, where he played at left-back for Riccardo Calafiori, was top-notch.

Myles Lewis-Skelly appears to be falling out of favor, which has allowed Hincapie to develop into a left back role, and he demonstrated fully this week why he’s rated so highly.

Arsenal have a £45m clause that would allow them to sign the player at the end of his loan spell, and the jury may yet be out on whether he’s worth it. However, his performance against Chelsea showed exactly why they would be wise to shell out the money.

From a defensive point of view, the Ecuadorian was almost flawless, winning eight of ten confrontations and also recording three victories. He also made four clearances and made three tackles as Arsenal tried to keep a clean sheet to secure their place in the Carabao Cup final.

All in all, that’s exactly what they accomplished, in part because they have Hincapie to thank. He also almost scored with a screamer from outside the penalty area.

To be honest, his performances weren’t always convincing, but this was certainly his best night in an Arsenal shirt to date. The fact that it came in such an important game speaks volumes about his elite mentality.

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