Kepa Arrizabalaga had the final say after a marathon penalty Crystal Palace out of the Carabao Cup

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🔴Kepa on staying strong for penalties
Kepa Arrizabalaga had the final say after a marathon penalty shootout to knock Crystal Palace out of the Carabao Cup and send us through to the semi-final.
After we conceded an injury-time equaliser, the game went to spotw kicks, and neither side missed from the first 15 attempts from 12 yards.
But then Kepa hurled himself to his right to keep out Maxence Lacroix’s effort, and spark celebrations at Emirates Stadium. 
“We are in the next round, we're happy,” he said afterwards. “I think we made a huge effort. We should have scored, I think, a couple in the first half. We played so well. Then the second half was more like 50-50. 
“Even like this, we had good chances. We’ve conceded in a couple of games in the last minute so it's something that we have to look at. And then credit to the guys, they took amazing penalties. They keep us in the game, and they give me an opportunity to make a save.”
It was a quick turnaround after conceding the equaliser – five minutes into injury time  and then gearing up for penalties, and Kepa said his preparation played a big part. 
“Emotionally, you have to be focused, be strong, because obviously when you concede in the last minute and then you have to go to penalties, you need to 100 per cent be focused on your penalty takers, you need to save. So it was a change of mindset, and it worked.
“We’re prepared for everything, every possible scenario. We were playing against a very strong team, so that can happen. 
So we talked about it before. We have a very good group of goalkeepers, we talk between each other and try to be focused on the next penalty, always the next one.”
The win sets up a two-legged meeting with Kepa’s former club Chelsea, with the first game away from home in the new year 
“Right now, if you want a trophy, that's something that we want. We have to fight against good teams. I think both semi-finals, are big games, it's going to be tough, but we'll prepare well the game. We'll be ready and we'll go for it.”
Arteta on showing “personality and quality”

It may have taken a bit longer than any of us wanted, but Mikel Arteta was all smiles by the time we booked our place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.
An own goal from Maxence Lacroix looked to be sending us through, before Marc Guehi netted an injury-time equaliser to force penalties. 
We scored all eight of ours in the shootout, meaning Kepa Arrizabalaga’s save – from that man Lacroix – was decisive. 
“I'm very happy to win, it's what we wanted,” he said at full time. “We played against a team that is very well organised, really difficult to penetrate and create chances [against], but I think we created a lot today, we had many chances. 
“In my opinion, the margin should have been much bigger. But you have to defend the box better than we did and not concede the sequences of play that we conceded previous to the goal. 
“What I loved as well is that even though, emotionally, it was tough to accept that, we were very controlled and really composed the way we took the penalties, it was really convincing.”
It was the fifth penalty shootout we have won since Mikel Arteta became manager six years ago, and we have scored 32 of the 35 penalties taken in the seven shootouts since 2020. 
“The penalties were unbelievable,” he said. “Very different, all of them, but the players showed, again, great composure, a lot of personality and quality to score the goals. 
“We executed really well and at the end, Kepa did what he had to do to help us to go through.”
It means we go into Christmas on top of the Premier League table, on top of the Champions League league phase, and now into the last four of the Carabao Cup. 


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