Meet Chelsea in the semi-finals
Published 2025-12-23 23.20
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Arsenal are through to the semi-finals of the League Cup.
40 minutes before the clock struck Christmas Eve, they defeated Crystal Palace after a penalty drama.
Maxence Lacroix became the big scapegoat with an own goal and the only penalty miss.
Alexander Isak has had surgery
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Viktor Gyökeres was not allowed to set foot on the pitch the day before Christmas Eve.
But the fact that the penalty-proof Swede remained on the bench didn’t do much.
Arsenal won after Maxence Lacroix missed the only penalty of the shootout in the eighth round.
Thus he became a scapegoat in a double sense.
Scored an own goal
Arsenal had taken the lead in the 80th minute after a somewhat strange goal.
Bukayo Saka took the corner which reached Riccardo Calafiori. The Italian got a half-way header that bounced to teammate Jurrien Timber. He shot the ball straight away but it went straight to an opponent.
But the ball bounced straight out to Lacroix, who unluckily got the ball over his own goal line.
In extra time, Marc Guehi stayed ahead and made it 1-1 – and the match went to penalties where Lacroix was the only one to miss.
In Viktor Gyökere’s absence, Gabriel Jesus started for the first time this season. The Brazilian has been injured and was back in action earlier in December.
Chelsea will face Arsenal in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final, Newcastle and Manchester City meet.
Bloody Richards out on a stretcher
A little more than halfway into the second half, Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards was injured.
It was unclear what happened.
All of a sudden, the American sat down on the grass and when he received medical attention, one of his feet became increasingly bloody. He could not play on and was taken away on a stretcher.
