Chelsea and Arsenal meet tonight in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. The London rivals collide at Stamford Bridge, bidding for an advantage in the first leg of the tie.
Ahead of the game, we’ve looked at five memorable cup clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea
Chelsea 0-2 Arsenal, FA Cup final (May 4, 2002)
Arsene Wenger’s side conquered Chelsea on route to a domestic double in 2002.
The London sides met in the FA Cup final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, with two brilliant goals crowning Arsenal winners in Wales.
A tight final burst into life when Ray Parlour opened the scoring on 69 minutes, with the midfielder’s effort curled brilliantly into the top corner.
Ten minutes later, Freddie Ljungberg put the game beyond doubt with another glorious goal, whipping a finish past Carlo Cudicini. Having netted in the final defeat to Liverpool a year earlier, Ljungberg became the first player in 40 years to score in back-to-back finals.
Arsenal completed their domestic double a few days later, as Sylvain Wiltord’s winner crowned them Premier League champions at Manchester United.
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea, Champions League quarterfinal second leg (April 6, 2004)
Arsenal were on route to winning the Premier League undefeated when the teams met in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2003/04. A brilliant Gunners team became English football’s first Invincibles in 115 years, but suffered a painful European exit.
Chelsea had not beaten Arsenal in 17 attempts, while a 1-1 draw in the first leg made Arsenal favourites ahead of the return at Highbury. Jose Antonio Reyes put Arsenal ahead in the second leg, but Frank Lampard equalised to level the aggregate tie.
Then, with just three minutes to go, Chelsea delivered a bolt from the blue. Wayne Bridge blasted home a dramatic winner after a neat one-two with Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Wayne Bridge. Highbury. 6 April 2004. 🤩#onthisday pic.twitter.com/c9ET18U38G
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 6, 2020
Chelsea, backed by a billionaire takeover the previous summer, had started to shift the balance of power in the capital.
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal, League Cup final (February 24, 2007)
A fiery final ended with three red cards as John Obi Mikel, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure all saw red following a mass brawl late on at the Millennium Stadium.
That clash was the flashpoint of a fascinating final, in which an under-strength Arsenal went ahead through Theo Walcott. Chelsea hit back to equalise through Didier Drogba just eight minutes later, though it was an inexperienced Arsenal team that was on top.
#OTD in 2007, Drogba scored a delightful double against Arsenal to secure us a fourth League Cup! 🫡#CFC | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/OWoWx8gIlL
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 25, 2024
However, Chelsea’s more senior side snatched the trophy late on. Drogba, so often the nemesis of Arsenal during his time in West London, headed in Arjen Robben’s cross six minutes from time.
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea, FA Cup final (27th May, 2017)
Arsene Wenger became the most successful manager in FA Cup history after winning the trophy for a seventh time in 2017.
Alexis Sanchez’s controversial early goal put Arsenal ahead at Wembley, after referee Anthony Taylor overruled his assistant who had flagged for offside against Aaron Ramsey in the build-up. There were also arguments from Chelsea that Sanchez had handled.
The days before VAR, eh?
Chelsea’s afternoon went from bad to worse when Victor Moses was sent off for diving. The 10 men got back on terms when Diego Costa steered in an equaliser, but Arsenal made their man advantage count just moments later. Aaron Ramsey arrived unmarked to head in the winner.
Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal, Europa League final (29th May, 2019)
Eden Hazard signed off his Chelsea career in style with two goals and a man-of-the-match performance to sink Arsenal in Baku.
The first-ever meeting between the teams in a European final saw Chelsea crush their London rivals, with Hazard exceptional throughout. After a goalless first half, Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for Chelsea against his former team, before Pedro doubled the lead on the hour.
Hazard, who had set up Pedro’s goal, scored the third from the penalty spot to put Chelsea in cruise control. A thumping effort from Alex Iwobi pulled one back from Arsenal, but it was Hazard who had the final say after good work from Giroud.
Read –Â Moments that defined Chelsea and Arsenal’s modern rivalry
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