Arsenal GK wins Man City Carabao Cup thanks to 'horror show' Arteta's "My selection was right" protection of his student despite his angry fan sentiment

*This content was translated by AI.

Arsenal were at the center of criticism for their painful goalkeeper mistakes, but Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta gave trust, saying, "Mistakes are part of football."

Arsenal lost 0-2 in the final of the "2025-2026 English Football League (EFL) Carabao Cup" against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London on the 23rd (Korea time).

Arsenal, who sought to win the Carabao Cup for the first time in 33 years since the 1992-1993 season, failed to cross the last gateway and suffered. In addition, the dream of achieving four gold medals (EPL, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup) for the first time in history has been abandoned.

On the other hand, Manchester City won its ninth Carabao Cup in five years since the 2020-2021 season. In particular, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola won his fifth Carabao Cup, surpassing Brian Cluff, Alex Ferguson, and Jose Mourinho (four times) to become the most winning head coach of the tournament.

Arteta, who served as a head coach at Manchester City in the past and assisted Guardiola, eventually failed to overcome the teacher's wall. Based on Guardiola's tactical philosophy this season, he has made remarkable achievements by leading Arsenal in the English Premier League (EPL). However, the single-round match at Wembley was lost to Guardiola, who was called the "manager of the Carabao Cup."

Arsenal scored the first goal in the 15th minute of the second half on goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalah's error-prone play. Kepa seemed to reach out and grab a cross from Rayan Sherki, but the ball flowed backward. Nico O'Reilly pushed it to the header. Kepa, who wore the final gloves instead of Arsenal's main goalkeeper David Raya, was devastated.

Arsenal, who gave up the momentum, allowed an additional goal four minutes later. O'Reilly shook the net with another header from Matheus Nunes' cross from the right side.

Arsenal, who were in a tight spot, sought a comeback if Ricardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were added in succession. However, in the end, he failed to score and lost the championship cup.

After the game, Kepa shed light on the fatal mistake of changing the tense trend of the game in an instant. However, Arteta protected his student.

"Kepa is a very outstanding goalkeeper," Arteta told British 'Sky Sports,' stressing, "It was a fair and absolute right decision to start him today." When asked about the situation of losing the first goal, he drew the line, saying, "Mistakes are only part of soccer."

Despite the disappointment of failing to win the Carabao Cup for the first time in 33 years, Arteta blocked the arrow from turning to a specific player. Now, he seems to be focusing on re-establishing the team's atmosphere for the league championship competition.

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*This content was translated by AI.