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Mikel Arteta defends choice to start Kepa Arrizabalaga in Carabao Cup final
Kepa Arrizabalaga deserved to play in the Carabao Cup final, says Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal fell 2-0 to Premier League title rivals Manchester City in Sunday's final, with Arrizabalaga playing a prominent role in the defeat. The 31-year-old goalkeeper failed to hold on to a cross at the hour mark of the match, which allowed Nico O'Reilly to easily head the ball into a wide-open net to open the scoring.
Four minutes later, O'Reilly scored again to put the result beyond doubt for the Sky Blues, denying Arsenal their first major trophy in six years.
"Painful, especially for our players and supporters because we really wanted to lift that trophy today," Arteta told BBC Radio after the match. "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."
Much of the post-match talk focused on Arteta's choice to hand Arrizabalaga the start, despite David Raya having firmly established himself as the Gunners' first-choice 'keeper. Arrizabalaga has yet to feature in a league match since joining Arsenal in the summer, although he did start in all five of the club's Carabao Cup matches leading into Sunday's final.
"I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season, the fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today," Arteta said. "It would have been very unfair to choose a different one."
As for where the Gunners go from here, their quest for silverware is now been narrowed to the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Arteta does not want the let-down of losing of Sunday to affect his team's trophy ambitions for the rest of the season, and he implored his players to use the disappointment of the Carabao Cup final defeat as motivation to win elsewhere.
"We had eight amazing months with this team," he said. "Today is a disappointment. We need to use that fire in the belly for the next two months to have an incredible season."
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