Granit Xhaka seals Arsenal place at Wembley at Chelsea’s expense

It is only January and these two London rivals have now met five times this seaon. Given it had been impossible to separate them after 90 minutes in the previous four matches, it was always likely to take something special or freakish to do so on this occasion. In the end it was something freakish.

It is unclear how many ladders Antonio Rüdiger walked under before this semi-final, second leg but the Chelsea defender’s bad luck knew no bounds. With his team one-up through the irrepressible Eden Hazard, Rüdiger saw a Nacho Monreal header flick off Marcos Alonso, hit him and go in for an equalising own goal.

Continue reading...