Arsenal come back to beat Chelsea and reach EFL Cup final after profiting from Antonio Rudiger's ricochets

So, for all the recent talk about Arsene Wenger’s potential last days at the Emirates, he could well produce another first. The Arsenal manager has never won the League Cup but could now claim it in what will be his third attempt at a final, after beating Chelsea 2-1.

That opportunity somewhat fittingly came from a comeback, but more pointedly came from a tactical switch that outfoxed a modern coach like Antonio Conte, and will also give Wenger much more hope against the monstrous force of Manchester City at Wembley. Having seen his side go 1-0 down to a Hazard goal that seemed to highlight so much wrong with them, the French manager switched formation to bring out their strengths and win 2-1 through a Granit Xhaka strike. Arsenal really ended up overpowering Chelsea, just as Wenger again out-thought Conte.

In that sense, it was far from a first for the Italian or his team. They really struggle against this Arsenal. Fair questions might be asked about why Wenger initially deviated from the approach that has brought such success in a fine run of results against Chelsea, but all that matters is that he found the right response. All that matters, for the moment, is that he is in another final.

Questions will instead now again come over whether Conte is entering his final months at Stamford Bridge, as the side that finished this game was so different to the one that started it. That points to a greater issue.

Arsenal did however need a response, because it did look like Chelsea initially could be rampant. There were long stretches when they had Arsenal pegged back in their own area, and were really exposing the problems in that four-man defence. There were so many moments when Chelsea were either getting through them with ease, or causing undue worry from what should have been a fairly innocuous passage of play. Warning came after just minutes when Pedro had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled offside, before the Spaniard then played Eden Hazard through for the actual first goal.

It looked at that point like Chelsea could tear Arsenal apart, only for the champions to then show one reason why they won’t be champions this season: their own defence has lost some durability. As the recent league game between the two sides showed, there is often a real fragility to it, as they conceded within five minutes. It was from one of the sloppiest situations imaginable, too. A corner wasn’t cleared, Nacho Monreal wasn’t challenged, and his header then bounced off two Chelsea defenders to go in for an eventual Antonio Rudiger own goal.

It was all the more frustrating for Conte because it was essentially Arsenal’s only proper attack of the first half until a bouncing Mesut Ozil effort.

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Chelsea should still have reclaimed the lead very soon after that, as Willian screwed the ball wide, but it was night that was ended very soon after that as he had to go off injured.

That led to Ross Barkley’s first appearance for Chelsea and the first factor for the change in the game, even it would be harsh to blame the new signing given it was also his first match in eight months. The champions were affected, though, and it was to get worse.

It said much about how the first half had gone that Wenger felt the need to make a change of his own, as he decided to go to three at the back, for the second factor that forced the occasion. That switch instantly improved Arsenal’s hold on the game. It still didn’t allow them to really plug that hole at the back, given the amount of times Hazard ran straight through it. For one, in the 54th minute, he seemed set to surge straight through on goal with alarming simplicity… only to find difficulty just running as he fell to the ground as he lost his balance.

That might have influenced the remainder of the game, but the reality still was that Chelsea had lost their balance. And their verve.

The match had at last became a two-way event, and it wasn’t long until it was 2-1 to Arsenal. Chelsea were again looking fragile as an improvised Cesar Azpilicueta clearance went over rather than in, but still didn’t get rid of the danger. With the champions now pegged back, Alex Lacazette turned in the box for a cross that once again hit the unfortunate Rudiger, the ball this time going to Granit Xhaka rather than the goal but the Swiss international made sure it ended up there. He nicely dinked the ball past Willy Caballero.

Chelsea needed something now, but could barely get out of their box.

Conte, meanwhile, had nothing. It is something of a grand irony to a great career in England given he has won a title, but a manager so often argued as past it has proven his kryptonite, someone he can’t really get past.