Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is looking forward to the chance of eliminating his former club Chelsea from the League Cup after playing a pivotal role in a penalty shootout victory over Crystal Palace.
The Gunners secured a place in the semi-finals on Tuesday when Kepa saved Maxence Lacroix’s spot-kick in an intense 8-7 shootout win following a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Kepa, who spent seven years with the Blues before joining Arsenal in pre-season, now has the opportunity to prevent his former team from reaching the first major final of the season.
Having appeared in all three of his Arsenal games so far in the League Cup, Kepa said: “Right now, if you want a trophy, and that’s something that we want, we have to fight against good teams.
“Both semi-finals are big games, and it’s going to be tough, but we’ll prepare well for the game, and we’ll be ready and we’ll go for it.”
Arsenal will face Chelsea for a place at Wembley, with the first leg at Stamford Bridge on January 14 and the return match at the Emirates on February 3.
The Gunners seemed set to progress in regulation time until Marc Guehi’s late equaliser — marking the third time in Arsenal’s last five games that the Premier League leaders’ defence has been breached in or after the 90th minute.
“We’ve conceded in a couple of games in the last minute so it’s something that we have to look at,” said Kepa, filling in for Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper David Raya.
The 31-year-old Spaniard added: “But we are in the next round and we’re happy. We made a huge effort. We should have scored a couple in the first half. We played so well. Then the second half was more like 50-50.
“Credit to the guys, they took amazing penalties. They kept us in the game, and they gave me an opportunity to make a save.”
