Arsenal Outlast Crystal Palace On Penalties To Reach EFL Cup Semi-finals

Arsenal fought back against Crystal Palace's resilience to reach the semi-finals of the EFL Carabao Cup, winning on penalties for an aggregate victory of 1-1(8-7). 

Palace stood their ground to the shot until they lost in shoot-outs as Maxence Lacroix missed a spot-kick. They kept the deadlock even after trailing from an own goal by regaining level terms from Geuhi's brilliant goalscoring ability. 

The first half was a tense and closely fought affair, with both teams creating chances but struggling to break the deadlock. Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus had a header saved by Walter Benítez in the 25th minute, while Palace's Yéremy Pino won a free kick in the 19th minute.

It took Arsenal until the 80th minute to take the lead. Maxence Lacroix tapped a loose ball into the net amidst a rowdy moment in the box. Guehi restored the side back into the game in injury time when he dashed past defenders and poked Jefferson Lerma's header into the net. 

In extra time, both teams had chances to win, but it was Palace's Guéhi who had the best opportunity, hitting the post in the 90+12 minute. As the game progressed into the shootouts, Lacroix ruined it for Palace, losing his penalty after they had successfully taken seven spot-kicks.

The game changed for the better when Mikel Arteta changed the attackers on the wings. Arsenal were barely lucky with goals, despite having a handful of goalscoring chances, particularly from Gabriel Jesus. Otherwise, the game should not have gone the distance. Meanwhile, Marc Guehi caught the defense off guard.  He found space and reacted quickly to his anticipation of Lerma's header landing in front of the goal.