Ian Wright has named a big-money star who struggled in the Carabao Cup final.placeholder image
Ian Wright has named a big-money star who struggled in the Carabao Cup final. | Getty Images
Arsenal had a tough afternoon across the pitch in Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Sunday
Arsenal were defeated in their first major final in six years on Sunday, as Manchester City ran out 2-0 winners in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Truthfully, the Gunners never really got started despite an encouraging opening to the game, and Mikel Arteta’s side struggled to lay a glove on their opponents after Nico O’Reilly scored twice within five minutes just after the hour mark.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright reflected on his former side’s “poor performance” at the full-time whistle and singled out one often-reliable player who had an off day in the final and epitomised the Gunners’ difficulty controlling the game in the middle of the park.
Ian Wright criticises Martin Zubimendi performance in Arsenal cup final defeat
Speaking to Sky Sports, Wright said: "Man City went into a 4-2-4, they pressed us high, we knocked it long, we couldn't hold it.
"We didn't have any midfielders - Zubimendi's numbers will be interesting to see, I don't think he held onto the ball. We couldn't get on it [the ball] to get our team playing, we couldn't get out.
"It all just fell in ourselves. The goalkeeper's mistake handed it to them a bit. It's a very disappointing one. We've got to front up and say 'OK, we'll go again', but it was a poor performance for me."
Wright’s words reflect a difficult afternoon for £55million summer signing Zubimendi, who has proven an astute signing for much of the season but went missing in the cup final. He lost possession 11 times as per Sofascore, with a passing accuracy of just 70 percent, and won just one of four ground duels – striking statistics for a holding midfielder looking to dominate proceedings.
Zubimendi was not alone, though – Declan Rice lost possession as many as 15 times, with a pass accuracy of 82 percent and just three ground duels won out of seven.
‘Very painful’ - Arteta reflects on Carabao Cup final defeat
Arteta said at full-time following the defeat: “It’s hard because everyone as a player really wanted it today and I know the supporters wanted it. The fact that we haven’t managed to deliver it is very, very painful.
“We’ve had a remarkable eight months together, and now there’s an international break. We all go into there with a very hard feeling and pain, and we’re going to use that as fuel for the next two months. We keep going. It’s painful not to give them what they are hoping for and what they are cheering for, but we’ll recover from that and go again.”
Arsenal return from the international break with an FA Cup quarter-final clash with Southampton, before their two-legged Champions League tie with Sporting CP is sandwiched in between a Premier League match at home to Bournemouth. Following that, comes the heavily-anticipated trip to the Etihad to face Man City again on April 19.
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