Mikel Arteta says it would have been 'very unfair' to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga after costly error in Arsenal's Carabao Cup final loss to Man City

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Arsenal's quadruple hopes were ended as they were beaten 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final by Manchester City. Nico O'Reilly scored both goals for City while Mikel Arteta's decision to start goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was under the spotlight after his error led to the opening goal. Arteta defended his decision and urged his team to rebound and have an "incredible season".

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Mikel Arteta said it would have been "very unfair" not to start goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Carabao Cup final after his costly error led to Arsenal conceding the opening goal in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Arteta stuck with Kepa, who had been Arsenal’s regular goalkeeper in the competition this season, rather than replace him with No. 1 David Raya for the final.

Pep Guardiola did the same as he trusted James Trafford instead of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

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However, while Trafford did well early on to deny Kai Havertz and then block two follow-up shots, Kepa dropped a cross from Rayan Cherki to gift Nico O’Reilly the opening goal in the 60th minute.

O’Reilly scored again a few minutes later as City triumphed in the first final of the season.

Asked about the decision to start Kepa, Arteta said: "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.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal now remain in the hunt for only two trophies.

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"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 always done in the competition and he helped us to go all the way through here.

"I believe it's the right thing to do and that's it. Errors are part of football and today it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment."

Arsenal, who were looking to win the first part of a potential quadruple, had the better chances in the first half at Wembley.

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But they were largely outplayed after the break as City controlled proceedings and scored twice to seal victory.

"Painful, especially for our players and supporters because we really wanted to lift that trophy today,” said Arteta.

”It was two very different halves, especially the first half when I think we were better than them and had the best two chances of the game. We didn't capitalise on that. Credit to them for what they have done. A really sad day.

”We had eight amazing months with this team. Today is a disappointment. We need to use that fire in the belly for the next two months to have an incredible season."

The Gunners are nine points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table and are also in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup quarter-finals.

Asked whether the defeat to Man City could impact the team for the rest of the season, Arteta said: "We played 50 games [up to] today, so every time you have a defeat or a draw, if that's the consequence, you're not prepared to play 70 games because it's something that will happen at some point.

"We haven't allowed that to happen, we have to prove it, we have to do it again. The good thing is that we have a very recent history, how this team has reacted in those moments, and I'm sure we're going to do it again."

Arsenal's next game is against Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, on April 4.

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