In the first semi-final of the Carling Cup, Tottenham Hotspur were finally able to break their Arsenal hoodoo, beating the Gunners for the first time in 9 years as they thrashed them 5-1. After along time, Spurs are on their way to Wembley.

In the first leg at the Emirates, Tottenham were clearly the better side and Arsenal were lucky to salvage a draw through a fluke Walcott goal. White Hart Lane and the Spurs faithful thought that this might be their day.

And they turned out to be right. But even more surprisingly than the result was the manner of the Spurs victory. Within the hour mark, they were 4 goals up leaving Arsenal with no chance of a comeback. The Gunners defence was totally unable to deal with the Spurs high-tempo attacking game as Jenas, Keane and Lennon all scored. (The forth goal was an own goal by Bendtner). Adebayor's 20-yard strike proved to be a consolation as Malbranque rounded off a thumping victory near the end.

Arsenal fans are arguing that this defeat was due to their young, inexperienced side. But you can only beat what's in front of you, and Spurs, managed to do it brilliantly. Moreover Walcott and Traore were the only youngsters in the side. Players like Diaby and Bendtner in addition to Sagna, Gallas and Fabregas are very much part of the first team. Arsene Wenger must learn from this loss. You can't field your second string side in every match and expect to get a good result. Wenger said that this defeat is a part of youngsters' learning process but a team's morale can never be high after a humiliating defeat at the hands of their most bitter rivals.

On the other hand, its celebration time in the other half of North London.Tottenham had made it to a final, and with Juande Ramos's outstanding cup record, I think that they have a decent chance of winning the Carling Cup. Now the more important thing for Spurs is to try and change their cup form into league form and sneak into a European place come the end of the season.

In the other semi-final, Chelsea managed to beat Everton by a single goal at Goodison Park, securing their place in the Carling Cup final for the third time in four years. Chelsea had a 2-1 one advantage from the first-leg, which meant Everton had to score to remain in the tie. Petr Cech turned out to be the main difference between the two sides as he made countless saves to keep Everton at bay. Credit must also be given to Chelsea's defence, who were able to survive Everton's onslaught. Finally,Chelsea were able to kill the game in the 69th minute, when Joe Cole controlled a long ball with a sublime touch and struck it past the helpless Tim Howard.

Everton would have to wait for another chance to play in a final, something which they have not done since 1995. But they can now turn all of their attention to wrestling the fourth spot from Liverpool,which will enable them to qualify for the Champions' League.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have continued to win games under Avram Grant. He now has an identical record to Jose Mourinho for the first 28 games in charge. But Chelsea's fans should not rejoice too much as far greater challenges lie ahead. The matches against Manchester United. Arsenal and Liverpool and the European powerhouses in the Champions' League will be the real test of Grant's mettle. I have serious doubts on whether he will be able to pass them with flying colours.

As I predicted, Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-0 last night to book their place in the last 4 of the Carling Cup, a feat they also managed last year. Both sides missed great chances to open the scoring in the first half. But finally Chelsea got lucky in the second half when Lampard's strike deflected in off Carragher. Liverpool's chances of a comeback were over when Peter Crouch was sent off for his horrible tackle on Mikel. Towards the end, Shevchenko also got on the scoresheet when his shot went in at the near post. All in all, it was a comfortable victory for the Blues. But Chelsea fans should not take too much heart from this win. Liverpool were poor last night and it is the upcoming busy festive period that will be their real test. Same is the case with Liverpool, who really need to chalk up some victories to get their season back on track and please their American owners.

The draw for the semi-finals took place after the match. It sees Arsenal meeting Tottenham Hotspur again and Chelsea taking on Everton, who have looked quite good this season. I expect both ties to be tight contests and fun to watch and I for one will not be surprised if Everton are able to get past Chelsea and Spurs are able to take revenge from the Gunners for beating them at the same stage last season. Both first and second legs of the ties will take place in January and they are certainly ones to look forward to.

Last night, quarter-finals were played in the Carling Cup. In the first match, Arsenal travelled to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers. Bit of a rivalry has developed between the two sides in recent years which results in steamy encounters between them Continuing with his policy of fielding his reserves in the Carling Cup, Arsene Wenger again played a very young side, making 11 chances to the team that played against Chelsea at the weekend. The youngsters justified their selection racing into a 2-0 lead within half hour courtesy of great finishes by Diaby and Eduardo. But you can never rule out a Blackburn comeback these days and Santa Cruz gave them hope, scoring just before half-time. Blackburn gained the initiative in the second- half, and Santa Cruz duly equalised from a Derbyshire cross, taking his tally to an incredible 5 goals in 2 matches. Denilson was sent off near the end of regulation time for a terrible challenge on Dunn, which maked a Blackburn victory even more likely. But all of Blackburn's efforts prooved to be in vain, as Eduardo scored again in extra-time sending the Gunners into the semi-final for the second year in a row.

In the second quarter-final, Tottenham defeated Manchester City at Eastlands, thereby ending City's 100% home record. Jermain Defoe put Spurs ahead as early as the fifth minute, ane Steed Malbranque made sure of the victory 8 minutes from time. Tottenham's task of achieving a win was made much more difficult when referee Steve Bennet sent off Didier Zokora in the 20th minute, but Spurs managed to hang on to seal a place in the last 4 of the cup keeping a clean sheet at last (thanks in no small part to Paul Robinson's fantastic saves).

Tonight, Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the last quarter-final of the Carling Cup. I expect the managers of both teams to field fairly strong line-ups as both of them need a win desperately to restore pride and confidence after damaging defeats at the hands of their rivals at the weekend. I think the match will be quite cagey at first, but become more open as the match progresses due to the fact that it is a cup-tie. Steven Gerrard is out of the match which is a big blow to Liverpool. Everyone knows that Liverpool are just not the same team without their talismanic captain. Moreover,Chelsea are at home and I expect somebody from their midfield to come up with the goods(their strikers are hopeless,apart from Drogba).Therefore,I am going for a Chelsea win. Let's see whice side delivers the knock-out blow to the other one tonight.