Mikel Arteta Forced to Defend Blundering Kepa After Howler Handed Man City Carabao Cup

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has backed goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga following a costly mistake in the team's 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

The Spanish keeper was at fault for Nico O’Reilly’s opening goal at Wembley, dropping a cross that allowed the City player to score. He also faced criticism for his role in O'Reilly's second, which helped secure Manchester City's ninth League Cup title.

Kepa had appeared unsettled earlier in the match, rushing out of his penalty area to confront Jeremy Doku in a risky move.

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Despite the errors, Arteta stood by his decision to start Kepa, who had featured in all previous rounds of the competition. The manager stated that "errors are part of football" and argued it would have been "very unfair" to select regular No. 1 David Raya for the final.

"I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season," Arteta explained. "The fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today. It would have been very unfair to choose a different one."

The Arsenal boss reiterated his commitment to fairness, adding, "I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair. He’s played all the competition and I think it would have been very, very unfair for him and for the team to do something different."

"Errors are part of football, and today it happened, unfortunately, in a crucial moment," Arteta concluded.

While Kepa received his manager's support, he faced a harsher verdict from pundits. Sky Sports analyst Gary Neville criticized the keeper's "nonsense" performance and pointed out his tendency to punch the ball instead of catching it.

"They were knocking at the door and City’s fans could smell blood behind that goal," Neville commented. "It is a really bad one by the goalkeeper, a real howler in a massive moment, but it was punch after punch and O’Reilly steals in."

The disappointing final continues Kepa's unfortunate history in the League Cup. In 2019, while at Chelsea, he famously refused to be substituted ahead of a penalty shootout against Manchester City, which his team lost. In the 2022 final, he missed the decisive penalty in an 11-10 shootout loss to Liverpool.