Arteta: 'Magical' final is 'best vitamins' for Arsenal
LONDON -- Mikel Arteta has described Arsenal's "magical" achievement in reaching the Carabao Cup Final as "the best vitamins we can put in our bodies."Substitute Kai Havertz's stoppage-time goal was enough to give the Gunners a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday, sealing a 4-2 aggregate success to book their spot in a major cup final for the first time in six years.- Premier League desperation rankings: Judging all 20 teams by transfer panicOn a cold and rain-swept night at Emirates Stadium, Chelsea adopted a cautious approach that turned this into an attritional affair but were unable to add a goal threat when introducing Cole Palmer and Estêvão on the hour mark.Blues boss Liam Rosenior suffered his first significant setback since replacing Enzo Maresca as head coach last month but Arteta can now look forward to a Wembley showpiece against either Manchester City or Newcastle United on March 22.Arsenal's sole trophy under Arteta came in the 2020 FA Cup final and they had lost their four subsequent semifinals prior to this latest win."We're only one match away," Arteta told a news conference. "It's the best vitamins that we can put in our bodies because we're playing every three days. But the fact that we worked so hard to achieve those moments and to have these moments together is just magical.Arsenal's Declan Rice (left), Piero Hincapie and Gabriel celebrate after the Carabao Cup semifinal second leg win over Chelsea. John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images"You can see the joy, the smiles, the energy from everyone that works at the club. Winning helps in every sense. Confidence, energy, you call it. We're going to be there in a few weeks, we'll prepare well."In the meantime we know that we need to just put it aside because three days later we're going to have a massive game here in the Premier League [against Sunderland]."Havertz celebrated the winner against his former club by pointing to the Arsenal badge as he was mobbed by teammates in recognition of a difficult year in which he has struggled with serious hamstring and knee injuries in the past year."Not only me, I think everybody that knows Kai a little bit, we feel genuinely happy for him in a special way because he deserves the best," Arteta said. "The way he works, the way he treats people, the way he behaves every single day."Today was a special moment for him and I hope that he enjoyed it because he fully deserves it."Rosenior revealed afterwards that Reece James and Pedro Neto failed fitness tests on the morning of the game and he challenged his players to bounce back against Wolves in the Premier League this weekend."There are a lot of encouraging signs," he said. "Now I need to see what we look like after a setback. We need to react positively. We have a difficult game away in Wolves on Saturday and I need to see what our reaction is to that."
