Stubborn Arsenal keep Chelsea at bay to leave tie in the balance before EFL Cup semi-final second leg

A match where Arsene Wenger had to sit in the press box due to his touchline ban and, beyond Jack Wilshere’s unfortunate injury, he would have had very little to report. This effective VAR experiment of a 0-0 draw between Chelsea and Arsenal was almost more an argument as to why the anachronism of two-legged League Cup semi-finals in such a congested calendar should be abolished.

The game just had no real consequence for the second leg, other than to potentially rob Wilshere from that return in two weeks’ time. Even the pre-match headline news that Alexis Sanchez had been dropped was diluted by the fact he was eventually brought on. Like everything else in this game, though, it was to little effect.

You could even say that of VAR itself, given the two penalty calls it was used for were innocuous enough.

The game didn’t even indicate too much. Chelsea were the better team, though Arsenal will probably have better feelings about the result. No one, ultimately, has the better of the tie. It was meanwhile so inferior a match to last week’s 2-2 in the Premier League that it was as if two different clubs were playing.

Some of that might have been down to the fact a different team was playing for Arsenal. With Mesut Ozil injured and Sanchez starting on the bench amid interest from Manchester City, Wenger’s side were shorn of the attacking thrust he so enthused about before the game, and it was instead much more like September’s dull 0-0 draw here between the teams – which also saw those two sit out.

If that was a recall to the past, though, it might also be a vision of the future to go with VAR. For all the talk that this was a weakened Arsenal side, it might well be close to their strongest in a few months’ time.

That slower pace meant Chelsea weren’t as stretched on the break, and were more willing to take the game to Petr Cech’s goal.

Cesc Fabregas looked to test the lie of the land – and that makeshift Arsenal backline – with a few searching arced balls early on, but Shkodran Mustafi managed to clear. When Fabregas found himself on the receiving end of a Cesar Azpilicueta ball to finally get free, he could only head straight at David Ospina.

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Chelsea were having much more joy on the wings, especially any time Victor Moses took on the out-of-position and thereby exposed Ainsley Maitland-Niles. One run led to a shot that Ospina just about held, another a dangerous ball across the box. As in the first leg, it was difficult not to have some sympathy with the young player since he is primarily a midfielder.

The midfield was one area of Arsenal’s starting XI which did at least look strong, however, and looked like they could produce something. Jack Wilshere did exactly that on 21 minutes with a divine ball over the top for Alex Lacazette but the forward could not match it with the finish, blazing over. Alex Iwobi at least tested Thibaut Courtois with a shot, but that was batted away, just as referee Martin Atkinson waved away complaints after consulting the VAR for a challenge from Moses in the box moments later.

The system was used in the first half to some confusion in the crowd, as they were given no indication of what was happening, but not quite the same extent of confusion as in the Arsenal defence when a cross was deflected towards Andreas Christensen just after the break. The centre-half could only put his header over.

Chelsea were beginning to gain more control, an advantage only aided when Wilshere had to go off with an injury. It was unfortunate not just because he had been one of Arsenal’s best performers in this game, but because this looked like it was developing into his best run of form for the club in years. It didn’t feel a coincidence that Wenger then finally brought on Sanchez, if even simply to provide a different outlet now his main creator was off.

Wilshere’s absence immediately saw Eden Hazard burst through the middle, the move ultimately seeing Morata drive a shot at Ospina. The striker still wasn’t having much luck at that point, either, and nor were his team in front of goal in general. Moses had a wicked shot deflected away by Calum Chambers.

Arsenal had barely got out of their own half in the second period. When they did, through an Iwobi run, he could only feebly poke the ball towards Courtois.

It summed up the match. Whatever about VAR, there won’t be too many re-watches of this.