Arsenal have officially booked their place at Wembley for the Carabao Cup final after a pulsating 2-1 victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, securing a 4-2 aggregate win.

While the night ended in celebration, the closing stages were defined by a moment of pure tactical tension that saw Mikel Arteta lose his composure just seconds before the decisive blow was landed.

Mikel Arteta was going ‘mad’ before Kai Havertz winner

As Chelsea pushed for a late equaliser to force extra time, the atmosphere in North London reached a fever pitch.

With Arsenal clinging to a narrow lead, the ball appeared to drift out of play during a frantic Chelsea buildup, yet play was allowed to continue.

Former England international Matt Upson, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live, reported the frantic energy on the touchline.

“Well, 30 seconds ago Mikel Arteta was going mad that the referee had not blown his whistle.

“It has been a high-pressure last 10 minutes.” Arteta was seen frantically gesturing at the fourth official, convinced his side was being denied a blatant stoppage.

However, that frustration leftin an instant. Arsenal intercepted the resulting play, launching a lightning-fast counter-attack while the Chelsea defense was still over-committed in the final third.

Arsenal likely to face Man City in final Wembley showdown

The win means Arsenal will now face one of Manchester City or Newcastle in the final of the competition.

Their most likely opponents are going to be Pep Guardiola’s side who lead 2-0 on aggregate.

The return fixture is at Etihad where the home side are favourites to beat the defending champions and book the place in the final.

Mikel Arteta has a chance to win his first trophy for Arsenal in five years.

Man City have not been at their usual best this season. In contrast, Arsenal look their strongest self and are full of confidence at the moment, with Arteta doing an incredible job at the club.

Could the League Cup be the first of multiple trophies Arsenal will win this season?

 

The post What Mikel Arteta was seen doing seconds before Kai Havertz’s winner vs Chelsea appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In a late move coming just weeks before the start of the 2026 season, NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway have decided to take the Charlotte Roval off the calendar, replacing the sixth race of The Chase with a traditional oval race.

Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI), confirmed the news first reported by The Athletic in an appearance on the Dale Jr. Download. He joined Kelley Earnhardt Miller on the podcast, explaining the thought process behind the decision.

During a recent strategic meeting, Smith said executive Jessica Fickenscher brought the subject up, and it quickly gained traction. After talking with NASCAR, TV partners, and race sponsor Bank of America, everyone was supportive of it.

"At the time when we introduced the Roval, it was when road courses were having this amazing surge," said Smith. "Fans were saving we love road courses, it kind of raced like a short track, and so we brought out the Roval and it provided another road in the schedule and the playoffs. It made for something new and different. It was one of the highest rated races for TV in a couple of years. Great growth, great excitement, some great highlights from the race.

"But I think the new car and the way NASCAR officiates the racing isn't as exciting as it had been, initially. We want to deliver excitement and a great event with fantastic competition."

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

This means that the return of NASCAR’s ten-race ‘Chase’ format will not include a road course race. NASCAR first started hosting races on the infield road course at Charlotte in 2018, which ended in a dramatic finish as Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. collided in the battle for the win. As they spun through the final chicane, Ryan Blaney slipped by to take the checkered flag. Shane van Gisbergen is the most recent Cup Series winner at the Roval, which was the Round of 12 cutoff race in the previous championship format for some time.

The Roval and its place on the schedule has come under scrutiny in recent years as the Next Gen car has struggled to put on great shows at such circuits in comparison to intermediate tracks. The 2025 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte, which featured a last-to-first drive by Ross Chastain, was considered to be one of the best races of the entire season last year. Former Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski openly called for the Roval’s removal last fall, and was among those petitioning for series officials to bring the event back to the oval.

Six Cup races took place on road/street courses during the 2025 season, but three of those circuits will not return. NASCAR will be adding the San Diego Street Course to bring the total to four, but all of those will take place during the regular season.

This will mark the first time since 2017 that Charlotte will have two points-paying races on its oval layout. The last time that happened, Martin Truex Jr. won the 500-mile race in the fall.

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Title holders VfB Stuttgart must fight hard at second division Holstein Kiel on Wednesday night in order to reach the German Cup semi-finals for the third time in four years, coach Sebastian Hoeness has said.

Hoeness told reporters on Tuesday that Kiel were "doing very well in their underdog role" which saw them advance away at Bundesliga sides Wolfsburg and SV Hamburg.

He said his team will have to give its all in expected freezing conditions but he also highlighted that Stuttgart have lost just once this year which gives them lots of confidence.

They have done well in the Cup in recent years which culminated in last season's title, and Hoeness said the memories of lifting the trophy were added motivation as well.

"We know what the appeal of this competition is," Hoeness said. "We want to seize the opportunity that is available to us – with both hands."

Stuttgart have won the German Cup four times and have appeared in eight finals.

Hoeness said that midfielder Nikolas Nartey is not fit to play on Wednesday while first choice Alexander Nübel will be in goal.

NASCAR is returning to a version of a championship format it used from 2004 to 2013 but two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch ponders if this is really for the best.

“I thought we got away from it for a reason in the past,” said Kyle Busch during a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “So, I’m not real sure why we went back to it. The reasons why we sort of went away from it was obviously Jimmie Johnson’s dominance, number one.”

“I feel like number two is there were times where guys like myself, who would have one bad race or two that would then knock them out of the championship. I finished 3rd one year, 5th another year just from having a wreck in one race like Talladega. You can’t make up enough points to get back to the championship.”

“I got wrecked at Kansas one year. That put me 5th in the championship.”

The point Busch was articulating is that the elimination rounds format used over the past 11 years allowed a top-tier driver to recover by winning. It’s also fair to mention that Busch won both of his championships under that format.

“It’s just stuff like that,” Busch said. “I don’t really agree with it. But, the racing, the way that it is today and everybody running over everybody all the time, you might see that all 16 of us have a bad race.”

“If all of us have a bad race then that could be construed as a throw away and you gotta be good in the other nine.”

“We’ll see how it plays out.”

Read Also: NASCAR drivers, legends say new format is about legitimacy NASCAR Rule Book update formally abolishes The Playoffs Dale Jr. says 2025 playoff format was making him 'fall out of love' with NASCAR

This isn’t entirely the old Chase for the Championship either as NASCAR has drastically increased the number of points allocated for winning races and more points are available in the form of stage points.

Busch says, ultimately, the only teams capable of recovering from a bad race moving forward are those who win in bulk.

“If you’re a winner,” Busch said of overcoming a mulligan. “If you’re a Hendrick, Gibbs or Penske car, yeah. Name me another team that wins races outside of those guys.”

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