Carabao Cup Semi-Final Second Leg

ARSENAL 0 (Partey sent off 90)
LIVERPOOL 2 (Jota 19, 77)
Liverpool win 2-0 on aggregate

ARSENAL’S League Cup run sputtered out at the Emirates tonight (Thursday) with two well-taken goals from Diogo Jota enough to deny Mikel Arteta’s side a shot at Wembley glory.

The Gunners faded badly in the second half of the game – their cause not helped by Thomas Partey’s reckless cameo.

The midfielder – rushed back from the African Cup of Nations in the nick of time to warm the bench – came on with 20 minutes to go, but was soon given his marching orders after two silly yellow cards in the space of four minutes.

With Arsenal already light in midfield, Partey will now miss Sunday’s Premier League game against Burnley. It was the third red card in three games for the Gunners.

Speaking about the sending off after the game, Arteta said: “It’s a big loss. We have to learn from that. We played the last three games with 10 men and against the top sides you cannot do that.”

But this semi-final second leg was over long before Partey’s red card, and Liverpool never looked like losing this one.

Arsenal had a lively opening ten minutes, pressing all over the pitch and hitting the bar through a well-taken Alexandre Lacazette free-kick. But that was the Gunners’ only real chance of the half, and Jota made the home team pay in the 19th minute with a great individual goal.

The forward took the ball on the left wing, cut inside the struggling Takehiro Tomiyasu and surged past a flailing Ben White into the penalty area. Jota’s low, deflected shot was then hit back across goal, wrong-footing a stranded Aaron Ramsdale as the ball trickling agonisingly into the back of the net.

Lacazette had another chance early in the second half after Albert Sambi Lokonga found him free in the Liverpool box. But a lack of pace and good work from Andrew Robertson saw Lacazette’s eventual shot go high and wide.

With Granit Xhaka’s red card in the first leg at Anfield leaving the Gunners short in midfield, Arteta went with a trio of Lokonga, Emile Smith-Rowe and Martin Odegaard.

Odegaard played deeper than usual and looked assured on the ball, turning his way out of trouble with ease and looking to release Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli at every opportunity.

And Arsenal’s young wingers, along with the talismanic Smith Rowe, looked dangerous at times on the break, with Martinelli especially lively on the left.

But this looked a step too far for Arteta’s team, and Arsenal never really looked like getting back into the game.

The tie was put to bed in the 77th minute. Martinelli lost the ball just inside the Liverpool half, leading to Trent Alexander-Arnold sending in a delicious swinging cross from the right. Jota took the pass on the chest before lifting the ball over Ramsdale.

The Arsenal fans were hoping to be saved by an offside, but VAR correctly changed the decision as Liverpool secured a 2-0 win to set up a final against Chelsea at the end of February.

Arteta said the club had done everything they could to put out a competitive team. The Gunners’ boss added: “When you have the final one game away you have that level of excitement.

“We did everything we could to put a competitive team out. We had our moments against a top side, especially in the first half when we hit the bar. But you have to score these chances against big teams.

“The first time they came over the halfway line into our half they scored a goal. That changed the game.”

Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierny, Lokonga, Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe (Partey, 74), Martinelli, Lacazette (Nketiah, 74)
Substitutes not used: Holding, Tavares, Alebiosu, Hein, Biereth, Salah-Eddine, Patino

Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Matip (Konate, 45), van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson (Milner, 75), Jones, Gordon (Minamino, 62), Firmino (Williams, 84), Jota
Substitutes not used: Alisson, Gomez, Adrian, Tsimikas, Morton