Arsenal fans will burst out laughing at what Declan Rice did to these Chelsea fans

Arsenal are on the cusp of Wembley, but it really should have been done and dusted. On Wednesday night, the Gunners beat Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.

Ben White broke the deadlock from a corner inside seven minutes, his first goal since netting twice against Chelsea in April 2024; set piece again, olé olé. After the interval, after great work by Bukayo Saka, White's low cross squirmed under Robert Sánchez before being lashed in from mere picometres out by Viktor Gyökeres.

Alejandro Garnacho hit back for the hosts, only for Martín Zubimendi to lash home the Gunners' third, at which point the tie had seemingly been put to bed. Nevertheless, with seven minutes remaining, Garnacho fired beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga to give the Blues hope in the tie.

The 4,000 Arsenal fans in the Shed End at Stamford Bridge certainly enjoyed their night, but departed the King's Road ruing the fact that Chelsea still have hope. Manchester City's 2-0 victory at St James' Park on Tuesday means it is almost certainly they who will await at Wembley on 22 March.

Mikel Arteta has now never lost any of his eight managerial visits to Stamford Bridge, winning four. In terms of coaches in Arsenal's entire history who have never tasted defeat at one specific away stadium, only George Graham at Carrow Road boasts a better record with ten.

Thus, a good night's work all round, even if there is still work to do in the second leg in North London next month. Well, the highlight of the game only surfaced on social media after the game, involving Declan Rice.

Declan Rice's reaction to Chelsea supporters

Of course, as is so often the case, Arsenal broke the deadlock via a set-piece in this week's Carabao Cup victory. As Declan Rice goes over to take the corner in front of the Matthew Harding Stand, he receives a torrent of abuse from the home fans. The supporters in question call him a "Chelsea reject" and a "traitor", among other things. One fan in particular clearly invested in the popular BBC show that was actually being broadcast concurrently to this match.

As the corner is swung in, one Chelsea supporter shouts "waaaay", a reaction that is swiftly drowned out by 4,000 travelling fans at the other end of the ground celebrating the opening goal. If that wasn't hilarious enough, before going over to celebrate with his teammates, Rice turns around and simply laughs directly at the humbled supporters, quite literally getting the last laugh. The clip can be found, and very much enjoyed, here.

Rice was in Chelsea's academy between the ages of seven and 14, before being released on the same day they let go of a certain Eddie Nketiah, too. When he was Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard said that he "wanted to bring in Declan Rice", believing "he would be the captain of Chelsea for the next 10 years".

Instead, Arsenal supporters everywhere are delighted that it did not transpire, given that the 27-year-old is leading the Gunners' charge for four pieces of silverware.