Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: 9–8 Kepa helps Gunners book EFL semi-final against Chelsea

Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 9–8 after penalty shootouts to advance into the semi-final of the EFL Cup, in which they will face London rivals, Chelsea.

Maxence Lacroix's double whammy ensured Arsenal advanced. First, he scored an own goal in the 80th minute to give the Gunners a hard fought lead, then he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout.

The game was tightly contested for much of the 90 minutes, with chances coming sporadically. The breakthrough arrived in the 80th minute when Arsenal took the lead, unfortunately courtesy of a Crystal Palace own goal by Maxence Lacroix.

He turned a Bukayo Saka corner into his own net under pressure, giving Arsenal the edge after a mostly balanced match where Palace goalkeeper Walter Benítez had kept his side in it with several strong saves.

Crystal Palace refused to surrender. In stoppage time (95th minute), Marc Guéhi stabbed home from close range after a Jefferson Lerma header forced the ball into his path, snatching a dramatic late equaliser to force penalties (no extra-time in EFL Cup)

The penalty shoot-out was a marathon of precision. Both teams converted their first seven spot-kicks. The decisive moment came when Lacroix, who had inadvertently given Arsenal the lead, missed his penalty, allowing Arsenal to prevail 8–7 on penalties and book their place in the semi-final. 

The victory keeps Arsenal's ambitions for silverware alive and sets up a heavyweight semi-final tie against Chelsea, a chance to push for their first Carabao Cup final since 2018, in which they lost 3–0 to Manchester City.