Arsenal beat Chelsea for League Cup final; Real Madrid shamed in Spain
Real Madrid suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by Leganes on Wednesday to exit the King’s Cup at the quarter-final stage on away goals. But in England, it was a spirited Arsenal that saw off Chelsea at the Emirates 2-1 to book a place in the final of the Carabao Cup against Manchester City at Wembley.
A much-changed Real side, missing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, held a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
But their troubled season hit a new low as they were outplayed by a team lying 13th in La Liga.
Arsenal’s inspired second-half showing saw them over the line and into a Carabao Cup final with Manchester City courtesy of a 2-1 win on the night, and on aggregate. But the Gunners never should have been allowed to turn the game, and indeed the tie, around, with the Blues having opened the scoring with a fine Eden Hazard goal.
Granit Xhaka and Nacho Monreal decided the game in Arsenal’s favour, meaning Conte has only been able to beat Arsenal once in his eight games as Chelsea manager. Xhaka scored the winning goal.