The German came on to round Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez before netting the winner in the 97th minute to haunt his former side and confirm Arsenal’s place at Wembley.
With Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both ruled out through injury, Mikel Arteta made three changes to the side that produced the 4-0 drubbing of Leeds on Saturday.
The opening exchanges delivered little of any substance. Arsenal were conservative in their approach, denying Chelsea of any space in and around their penalty box.
The Gunners then probed and looked to counter in transition but once again struggled to create any meaningful chances with Liam Rosenior’s side defensively resolute.
But once the visitors began to settle on the ball, Arsenal smelt blood. In the absence of Arsenal’s usual conductor of their relentless press, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice took it upon themselves to chase down the nervous Chelsea centre-back pairing of Trevor Chalobah and Jarrel Hato.
Despite a period of pressure on the Chelsea backline, the first half really felt like Arsenal were happy to see it through to half-time with the aggregate score still reading 3-2 in favour of Mikel Arteta’s side. The only real chance of the first half fell to Gabriel Martinelli, who couldn’t sort his feet out just yards from Robert Sanchez’ goal as the Spanish goalkeeper smothered the ball.
Eberechi Eze, starting his first game in Arsenal colours since the 4-1 win over Portsmouth, was again a passenger throughout the first 45 minutes. There is a school of thought that suggests Mikel Arteta’s system does not allow Eze to express himself in the way he might have liked, but it wouldn’t be controversial to say that Arsenal need more from Eze after a disappointing run out of the team has virtually left the former Crystal Palace star out in the cold.
With the scoreline on the night finely poised at 0-0, the second half produced an almost carbon copy of the first. Neither side looked as if they were willing to take the game to the opposition. In fact, an individual error or a moment of magic looked to be the only feasible way of breaking the deadlock.
In an attempt to batter down a stern Arsenal defence, Liam Rosenior opted to bring on Cole Palmer and Estevao as the visitors looked to take advantage of an underwhelming Arsenal home display.
Arteta then went with Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz to kill the tie, replacing Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke – both of whom were anonymous on the night.
As the temperature of the game began to rise, the momentum shifted in favour of Arsenal. Rosenior had made a clear effort to go for the win with the introduction of Alejandro Garnacho after 75 minutes, but it was Arteta’s side who nearly got their noses in front when Gabriel’s header cannoned back off the forehead of Marc Cucurella.
Chelsea were then awarded a free kick in a dangerous position, just yards outside the Arsenal penalty area. Palmer stepped up to take it but saw his tame effort bounce back off the rising Arsenal wall.
By the time 80 minutes had passed, frustrations were growing from both sets of fans, both teams and both technical areas. A tightly fought game of cat and mouse quickly descended into chaos. Martinelli, once again the villain in the eyes of the away fans, went down inside the Chelsea box, having been taken down by Trevor Chalobah’s excellent challenge.
A brief scuffle between the two players occurred, but neither was bothered enough to engage in a melee. The Chelsea focus was still very much on the opportunity at hand.
Six minutes were added, and Chelsea threw everything they possibly could at forcing extra time. Countless deliveries into the Arsenal box were hammered away by the likes of Gabriel and William Saliba as the visitors laid siege on Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal.
With seemingly the entire Emirates Stadium screaming for referee Peter Bankes to blow his whistle, Arsenal landed the knockout punch.
The imperious Declan Rice somehow found the energy in the 7th minute of added time to make a galloping run down the left-hand side and find Havertz on the edge of the box, who collected the ball before rounding Sanchez and slotting the ball into an empty net.
The Emirates turned from collective nerves into bedlam in a heartbeat, and Arsenal were on their way to Wembley.
It is the first time Arsenal will have appeared in a final since winning the FA Cup in 2020 – the only trophy Mikel Arteta has won during his tenure as Gunners boss.