As the first half wore on, the goalkeepers were called upon less frequently.
Mido came on and scored late on after Arsenal had gone in front and were seemingly cruising to victory.
The home side's composure was dashed but unfortunately Spurs were unable to nick a result in 90 minutes.
Paul Robinson made a brilliant reaction save to deny a Denilson blast. The Tottenham keeper then stopped a Kolo Toure effort.
The first 15 minutes of extra time saw Arsenal keep possession and do very little with the ball until just before the halfway stage.
That blow turned into something even worse in the second period. Two goals in extra time settled the tie.
Martin Jol: "It was 3-3 on aggregate and that's not bad, the problem was that we gave away a 2-0 lead in the first leg at home."
"In the first leg, 2-2 at home was not a good result."
"In the second leg the scenario was good - they scored without creating a lot of chances because at 0-0 it was no problem.
"We scored at an ideal moment and I felt they were a bit worried we could so something in the first few minutes of extra time. Then Ricardo Rocha slipped and couldn't block Aliadiere's shot for 2-1, we looked tired and couldn't press them again.
"It was close - last season we drew twice with Arsenal but after the 3-0 defeat here earlier in the season, we really wanted to put things straight. That was the disappointing thing."
"Aaron Lennon was in the starting line-up but he felt a bit sick after dinner. He went for his sleep, came back and said he felt fine, so I said I would play him.
"Just before we started, he said he still felt sick so we decided to pull him out and put him on the bench.
"We put him on the list for the referee but he then said he felt too sick to go on the bench and then we couldn't replace him. Young-Pyo Lee was in the squad but it was too late to put him in the team.
"It was a shame because Aaron's been on fire and I thought playing against Traore again, he could give us a spark."
Robbie Keane: "We gave everything but it just wasn't good enough in the end. All the lads were obviously devastated, and devastated for the supporters too. We were gutted - especially for the supporters who came here and were tremendous."
"We worked our socks off and gave everything that we could, but we didn't get the luck we needed."
"Mido had the chance that went just past the post and we needed that sort of thing to go for us but it wasn't to be.
"We got back into it, but the second goal killed us off. We had to score anyway, but it opened up the game and they got a third one."
Michael Dawson: "With all the work we put in to get that far and being so close to Cardiff, to go out against Arsenal was very, very disappointing."
"When Mido scored, I thought we might go on and do it, perhaps win it in 90 minutes. I thought that was our chance. It would have been fantastic but we gave it our all and it wasn't to be."
"Their second goal was a massive blow but we knew we needed to score a second goal anyway, then the third killed us off. We were all gutted but the Carling Cup has gone now."
Source: TottenhamHotspur.com