Manchester United supporters recently found humor in Alejandro Garnacho’s situation after his jab at the club was met with irony. Following Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Arsenal, Garnacho’s comments came back to haunt him.

The Argentine forward, who made a £40 million switch to Chelsea last summer, departed Old Trafford on less than friendly terms. His exit followed his placement in former United manager Ruben Amorim’s group of sidelined players.

Meanwhile, Manchester United has experienced a resurgence under interim manager Michael Carrick, climbing into the Premier League’s top four. This upswing was marked by three consecutive victories over Manchester City, Arsenal, and Fulham.

In a statement prior to the match, the 21-year-old expressed confidence, saying, “Everyone knows how challenging it is to play at the Emirates. If Manchester United can win there, then so can we.”

However, Garnacho’s confidence was misplaced. Despite being brought on in the second half, Chelsea suffered a 1-0 defeat due to Kai Havertz’s late stoppage-time goal, leading to a 4-2 aggregate loss and their elimination from the Carabao Cup.

Fans are ridiculing Alejandro Garnacho after his cheeky dig at old club Man United backfired

Before facing Arsenal at the Emirates in the Carabao Cup final second leg, he said: ‘Everyone knows how hard it is to play there. If Man United can beat them there, we can do it perfectly’

Fans quickly took to social media to ruthlessly mock the winger: ‘Well, that went well didn’t it’

Fans wasted no time taking to social media, where they mercilessly teased the Argentine player following Chelsea’s disappointing exit from the tournament.

‘Didn’t age well,’ one fan joked on X.

A second added: ‘Well, that went well didn’t it.’

A third, finishing their post with a laughing emoji, wrote: ‘How did that work out for you?’ 

Even before kick-off, several fans had called out Garnacho, questioning whether his ‘bravado’-filled comments were foolish. 

‘Interesting comment to make when you’ve just lost to them at home a couple of weeks earlier. That’s Garnacho for you,’ a supporter posted. 

A second chimed in and said: ‘Who does he think he is?’ 

Another added: ‘About Alejandro Garnacho’s pre-match talk. Young players showing swagger is fun, but the pitch is the final judge. 

Garnacho came on as a second-half substitute but was unable to impact the game for Chelsea

The Argentine let Old Trafford after being placed in Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ last summer

United have enjoyed a resurgence under interim Michael Carrick, winning three on the spin

‘Confidence can fire up a squad, but results will decide if the words were bold or premature. Do you think his mindset reflects Chelsea’s new fearless approach, or just youthful bravado?’

With Tuesday’s victory, Arsenal reached their first final since 2020 under Mikel Arteta, keeping dreams of a potential quadruple alive after starting the season impressively in the Premier League, Champions League and domestic cups.

Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered their first major setback since Liam Rosenior’s appointment as Enzo Maresca’s successor.

Paul Merson ripped into Chelsea for ‘going out with a whimper’ in a scathing assessment of their performance on Tuesday.

‘I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe what I just watched,’ a furious Merson said on Sky Sports.

‘This is Chelsea Football Club. They’ve got international players, a World Cup winner and they’ve got good players all over the pitch.

‘This is not a bottom four or bottom five team. He’s [Wesley Fofana] crying. He should be crying because they never had a go.

‘It’s unbelievable and I’m lost for words. I cannot believe what has happened. They’ve just gone out with an absolute whimper in the semi-final of a big competition. If it worked, it was great, but it hasn’t worked and you can’t gamble like that.

‘Have a go, and go out in a blaze of glory – don’t go out like that.’

With Tuesday’s victory, Arsenal reached their first final since 2020 under Mikel Arteta 

Paul Merson was furious with Chelsea’s display after their second leg defeat by Arsenal

Chelsea had two shots on target and 14 overall during a drab second leg, while defender Fofana had the most touches of any Blues player inside the Arsenal box.

Rosenior’s team did have a higher xG than the Gunners before Havertz resoundingly put the tie to bed but rarely came close to overhauling their first-leg deficit.

‘They played in second gear,’ Merson added. ‘This is the semi-final of the cup. You should go out in a blaze [of glory].

‘I keep on saying it but this is not like a League One or League Two team coming to the Emirates to keep the score down. They’ve got the players to mix it with Arsenal and have a go but they didn’t have a go.

‘There’s ways of losing. If they had lost the game 3-0, and they had shot after shot, Kepa was brilliant in goal and they broke like that three times you’d go “that’s the way it is”.

‘You see Fofana there. He played well but he’s crying – he’s probably crying because he knows it was a missed opportunity.

‘They’ll forever be thinking about that in their football careers.’

In response to Merson, Rosenior defended Chelsea’s tactical approach. ‘I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,’ he said.

‘So if I go and attack the game, press really high and we concede two goals early, everyone says, “What’s he doing?” That’s the reality of my job. The reality of my job is if you lose games, you’ll be criticised. If you win, you’re a genius. It’s normally somewhere in between.’