Loyal Gooners played their part in Arsenal reaching Wembley

The celebrations for Kai Havertz' winner produced the biggest roar heard at the Emirates since a certain game against Real Madrid last April says Nick Manfredi  

Arsenal are through to the 2026 League Cup final. 

Over two legs we were vastly superior to Chelsea and the fact there was only one goal between the sides until the last seconds does not reflect that in the slightest.

So, what have we learnt from Tuesday night’s game?

We have learned that Mikel Arteta’s quest for total control over the opponent is never ending.

As one goal leads go, this was as comfortable as it could’ve been without adding to our lead.

Chelsea huffed and puffed without creating any meaningful chances. A 25-yard hopeful drive from Enzo Fernandez was the closest Chelsea came to levelling the tie and that wasn’t close at all.

Kepa and our back four were very much untroubled by Chelsea’s multi billion-pound squad.

That was largely down to Arteta’s coaching and Chelsea’s horrendous recruitment “policy” under their tyrannical owners. Long may it continue.

We also witnessed how fans play a big part in these games.

Arteta has spoken a lot about fan engagement in the past and Tuesday night’s game was no different.

From the start, our supporters were as vocal as we have been in any game this season and it clearly played a prominent part in pushing us over the line.

The celebrations for Kai Havertz' winner produced the biggest roar heard at the Emirates since a certain game against Real Madrid last April.

As the season goes on and the stakes get even higher, the decibels on each matchday are sure to follow the same trajectory.

A lot of that is down to Arteta.

Small things like doing away with the retractable tunnel so fans can engage more with players and of course the presence of the Ashburton Army which we know has always been supported by the manager.

The connection between fans and players and fans and Arteta has generally been very high since 2022 and that is the result of a lot of hard work rebuilding connections off the pitch.

Arteta is very much the driving force behind that. His quest for marginal gains knows no bounds.  

The fight on all four fronts continues.

While the quadruple remains unlikely, we’ve taken a step closer to achieving that dream.

The longer we are fighting on four fronts, the more we are maximising our chances of finishing the season as successfully as possible.

None of us want to get carried away but I think we are at a point where the chances of us ending the campaign with at least one trophy in the sack are greater than the sack remaining empty.

The Carabao Cup is our lowest priority out of the four, but we are now one win away from winning it and maintaining an unprecedented achievement in English football.

When Monsieur Wenger vocalised his belief his Arsenal side could go Invincible, he also pointed out everybody shares that dream they just don’t want to say it out of fear of mockery.

I’m not suggesting Mikel should come out and declare the quadruple is our aim, but it shows that every dream sounds ridiculous until you achieve it.

There’s a life lesson in there somewhere.