Mikel Arteta has defended his decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, insisting it would have been “very, very unfair” to drop the goalkeeper despite the error that led to the opening goal.
Mikel Arteta has stood by his decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City after the goalkeeper’s costly mistake helped turn the match at Wembley. Arsenal were beaten 2-0, with Nico O’Reilly scoring twice in four minutes, the first goal came after Kepa failed to deal with a cross before the City defender headed in from close range.
The selection had already been a major talking point before kick-off. Kepa had played throughout Arsenal’s run in the competition, while David Raya remained Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper more broadly, and the manager opted to keep faith with the Spaniard for the final. After the game, Arteta made clear he did not regret that call.
“I understand that but I have to do what I feel is right and honest and what is fair,” Arteta said, speaking after the final. “I think we have an outstanding keeper in Kepa. 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.”
That explanation gets to the centre of Arteta’s thinking. Rather than viewing the final as a clean break from the earlier rounds, he judged Kepa’s contribution to the cup run as significant enough to keep the shirt for the biggest game of the competition. Arteta also suggested the decision was consistent with the way he approaches selection more generally.
“I can never promise players to play in certain competitions,” he said. “In the end they have to earn it and they have to do enough, like any other position. We are guided by what we feel and when he’s done what he has done in the competition and helped us to go all the way to here, I believe it’s the right thing to do.”
The problem for Arsenal was that the debate around the goalkeeper only intensified once the game turned. For an hour, the final was still there to be won, even if it had not been a particularly fluent performance from either side. Then Kepa’s handling error gave City the breakthrough in the 60th minute, and four minutes later O’Reilly headed in again to settle the contest. Arsenal never recovered.
Arteta did not try to hide from the significance of the moment, but he also refused to let it become the whole story of the player’s afternoon or of the selection itself. “Errors are part of football and today unfortunately it happened in a crucial moment,” he said.
That left Arsenal defending both a result and a decision after their first final since 2020 ended in defeat. City’s win gave Guardiola’s side the trophy and left Arsenal still waiting for their first silverware of the season, while the discussion afterwards shifted quickly to whether Arteta’s loyalty to Kepa had been rewarded or exposed.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have now lost their last four League Cup finals, the longest losing run in finals by any club in the competition’s history.