Arsenal Escape Crystal Palace's Trap

LONDON, WEDNESDAY — Through a penalty shootout that extended to the eighth kicker, Arsenal became the last team to complete the lineup of the quartet in the semifinals of the English League Cup 2025-2026. Eliminating Crystal Palace in the quarterfinals on Wednesday (24/12/2025 WIB) at the Emirates Stadium confirms that "The Gunners" are poised to be championship contenders across all competitions this season.

Currently at the top of the English Premier League and the Champions League standings, Arsenal continued their performance by advancing to the semifinals of the English League Cup. After a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes, Arsenal won the penalty shootout with a score of 8-7.

The impressive actions of Palace goalkeeper, Walter Benitez, who recorded seven outstanding saves, were thwarted by two misfortunes of Palace center-back, Maxence Lacroix.

The player from France helped Arsenal take the lead in the 80th minute due to a failure to adequately anticipate the corner kick from the home team.

Then, Lacroix's penalty kick was anticipated by Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who stopped the seemingly endless penalty duel.

Despite failing to qualify convincingly, Arsenal demonstrated their mental resilience by maintaining focus until the penalty shootout. After conceding a goal from Palace's defender and captain, Marc Guehi, in the 90+5 minute, Arsenal's penalty takers executed their duties flawlessly.

They did not diminish their desire to win after striving for more than 90 minutes to secure victory in regular time. The Cannons displayed a very dominant performance. Controlling the match with 69 percent possession, producing 549 passes, and creating 25 shots was not enough for Arsenal to lead without a penalty shootout.

"We should have taken advantage of some of our chances (to score), especially in the first half. We played very well. But we've conceded goals in the last few games, so there's a lot we still need to improve on," Arrizabalaga told Sky Sports.

Entering the second week of December, Arsenal's performance in terms of attacking effectiveness has declined. In the last three matches, they have only scored four goals. Their dominance in play has failed to be complemented by absolute superiority in the quantity of goals against their opponents.

They only scored two goals from the own goal of the bottom team, Wolverhampton Wanderers, then saved by a penalty from Viktor Gyokeres against Arsenal, followed by an own goal from Lacroix which became the only goal that found its way into the Palace's net.

"There is a big question mark for me regarding Arsenal's attacking performance. I saw their fluid play in the domestic competition last time during the match against Tottenham Hotspur (winning 4-1, November 23). In this match, they should have scored more goals," said former England national team goalkeeper, Rob Green, to the BBC.

That homework needs to be addressed by Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta if he wants to secure the first trophy of the season by the end of February 2026. The Gunners will face Chelsea in the London derby during the semifinal round.

The first semifinal match will take place at Stamford Bridge on January 15, 2026. The decisive second game will be held at the Emirates on February 4.

This is Arsenal's second consecutive season in the League Cup semifinals. Unfortunately, last season, they lost back-to-back to eventual champions Newcastle United, with a score of 0-2 in each match.

Arsenal has failed to reach the final of the English League Cup for eight seasons. Their last appearance in the final occurred in the 2017-2018 season when they were still managed by Arsene Wenger. At that time, Arsenal lost 0-3 to Manchester City.

So far, Arsenal has only won the English League Cup twice. The last trophy was lifted by Arsenal players in the 1992-1993 edition.

"We are very happy to be in the semifinals. We must learn from last season. We are determined to win both semifinal matches and advance to the final," asserted Arsenal's central defender, William Saliba.

When many parties discuss the stagnation of Arsenal's front line, Palace Manager Oliver Glasner stated that the Gunners advanced to the final due to having better luck than his team. Glasner mentioned that Palace was able to match Arsenal's performance in the second half.

"Today we missed a penalty after winning the duel twice this year. There's no one to blame. Arsenal were just luckier," Glasner told ITV

Furthermore, Glasner is optimistic that his squad can recover from a poor period as the year comes to a close. They have suffered three defeats in the domestic arena and a draw in the Europa Conference League.

In the match against Arsenal, Palace still did not present their best squad. Glasner lost Daichi Kamada and Daniel Munoz, who are still sidelined due to injury. Ismaila Sarr is also currently in Morocco to fulfill national duties with the Senegal national team in the Africa Cup of Nations 2025.

"Our performance in the second half showed that we could play better, even though we were plagued by acute fatigue. If we can consistently improve and perform like we did after the break, I am confident we will have a very good season," said Glasner. (AFP)