Mikel Arteta assessed a 2-0 defeat for **Arsenal**against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
The Gunners reached the Carabao Cup final for the first time since 2018 after their two-legged triumph over Chelsea, but they were again beaten by the men of Pep Guardiola. The Premier League leaders started fast, forcing a triple save out of James Trafford through efforts from **Kai Havertz**and Bukayo Saka, but their momentum slowed down after the first fifteen minutes.
The front two struggled to assert themselves against Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov, while Antoine Semenyo set back **Piero Hincapie**in his 1 v 1 battle. By the beginning of the second half, **Arsenal**were pinned back, with no outlet, and a mistake from the second-choice shot stopper proved to be fatal. Nico O’Reilly scored twice in four minutes, and the favourites had no significant response.
“Well, very sad, very hard [result] to take, especially for our players and our supporters because we know how much it means to them and how much we want it and the fact that we haven't managed to deliver that obviously is disappointing and sad and it leaves you a really bad taste.
“In the first half I think we had some really good moments, and I think we're the better team, we had the biggest chance of the game by far that we should have been 1-0 up and that would have changed the course of the game.
“In the second half we had, especially in the first 18-20 minutes, some issues to get out from that block, to press them better and especially to manage the ball when we regained it much better than when we did. Then we conceded the ball in a really unexpected manner obviously and three minutes later they scored another one in similar conditions to that.
“That's something you have to give credit to the opposition as well when they are so good in these periods and they capitalise on that, we had our periods, we didn't and then we have to accept that.
“There will be a lot of aspects that we will discuss. There will be a lot of aspects we need to discuss, I think we have to reflect on that, bring the temperature down a little bit and we will discuss that.
“Especially in the second half, those 20-25 minutes that we should have done better. But again, sometimes you have to create a position when they play at that level, they raise it and they capitalise on those moments. But for sure, there are things that we can improve and do better.
‘Errors are part of football’
Arteta had to hold accountability for a big call in the backline. He chose to leave number one David Raya on the bench, trusting in cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spaniard had already endured his fair share of **Carabao Cup**final misery in 2019 and 2022, and the decision from the manager to stick with his compatriot backfired. But Arteta continued to back his selection policy.
“I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair and I think we have an understanding goalkeeper in Kepa. He's played all the [games in the] competition and I think it would have been very unfair for him and for the team to do something different.
“I can never promise a player to play a certain competition because at the end they have to earn it and they have to do enough like any other position to do that. We are guided by what we've seen and what he's done in the competition, and he helped us to go through here. I believe it's the right thing to do and that's it. Errors are part of football, and it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment.
*“There were some moments they had and we had as well. We hit the post, we had a big chance with Gabriel Jesus, another big chance through Viktor Gyokeres and we didn't. You have to be credit to the opposition because they played as well. It's not a coincidence what they've done in that period.”*