Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice appeared in a press statement following the 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final, noting that the first leg ended with a 3-2 win for the Gunners.

The English star said, "Chelsea deserves praise. Since their new coach took over, they have been absolutely fantastic. They changed their plan tonight and caused us problems. On another night, they could have scored, but our defense, which was amazing, deserves commendation."

He added: "We have a group of players hungry for victory. Any team that faces us, we are ready for them. When you play against a team like Chelsea, they impose many physical and psychological challenges on you. You must be resilient to remain strong and keep moving forward."

He emphasized, "We deserve what we are achieving this season because, in the past three or four years, we have been at the top of the Premier League, competing fiercely, and we were very close to winning, but we were not up to the responsibility."

He concluded: "This season brings extra desire and enthusiasm to go as far as possible in every tournament. The road is still long, but reaching the League Cup final with this club is amazing."