Arsenal 0 Man City 2 – Kepa Arrizabalaga error and Cherki showboating in Wembley nightmare for Arsenal

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A big decision led to a big moment in the Carabao Cup final as an error from Kepa Arrizabalaga led to the first goal as Manchester City triumphed over Arsenal at Wembley.

Mikel Arteta chose to stick with his second-choice ‘keeper, but the Spaniard dropped a cross that allowed Nico O’Reilly to give City the lead.

O’Reilly added a second shortly after as Arsenal were left still searching for a first trophy since 2020. As for City, Pep Guardiola added more silverware to his collection, while Rayan Cherki was seen showboating with keepie-uppies as his side led 2-0, much to the disapproval of Guardiola.

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League, still in the FA Cup and the Champions League, but now have a long international break to stew on this first blip of the season.

Art de Roche, Sam Lee, Conor O’Neill and James McNicholas discuss the talking points from Wembley.

Breaking down Kepa’s mistake

In a match where both teams’ backup goalkeepers started, both were always going to have spells in the spotlight.

James Trafford lived up to his moment under the lights with an important triple save early on, but Arrizabalaga had another Carabao Cup final to forget with two lapses in the second half.

The drop that resulted in O’Reilly’s first goal almost summed up the match to that point. The final was there for either team to take hold of but, particularly towards the end of the first half, Arsenal’s grip just kept loosening.

Moments of indecision from Arrizabalaga played into that. Early in the second half, he stayed on the ball for 40 seconds before making a pass because he could not decide where it should go.

Minutes before the goal, he was booked after a momentary blank saw him lose the flight of a Matheus Nunes ball over the top and respond by fouling Jeremy Doku.

Given how wide that incident was, a yellow card was the right decision, but even then the Manchester City fans inside Wembley could smell blood. They grew more vocal, Guardiola’s players grew more dominant, and eventually they took advantage.

Arteta would probably not change his decision to start Arrizabalaga, who had played in every round until this point. Even so, the question of whether he should have made the cold decision of starting the better goalkeeper (David Raya) to give his side the best chance of winning will be asked.

Art de Roche

Where did Arsenal go wrong?

In the much-hyped coaching duel between Guardiola and Arteta, it was the more experienced manager who came out on top.

Arteta’s major team selection dilemma came around his goalkeeper — whether to stick with Arrizabalaga, who had played in each preceding round, or go with established No 1 Raya.

The Arsenal manager is generally considered a ruthless pragmatist, but chose to reward Arrizabalaga with the start. That backfired, with the Spaniard failing to deal with Cherki’s cross in the build-up to City’s opener. Raya’s command of his penalty area and ability to deal with crosses are among his strongest attributes.

It was also somewhat surprising that Arteta chose to stick with left-back Piero Hincapie at half-time, even though the Ecuador international was carrying a booking and struggling to cope with the threat of Antoine Semenyo.

Arteta came out second best in the battle with Guardiola (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Arteta could have swapped in Riccardo Calafiori, but chose to let Hincapie continue after the break. City then scored two goals, both of which were created on the left side of Arsenal’s defence.

After a bright start from Arsenal, City grew into the game — and even when turning to his bench, Arteta could not find an answer.

He was certainly hamstrung by injuries here: in the absence of Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze, Arsenal lacked a natural midfield creator.

But it was City’s press that was more effective; City’s players who looked more composed and comfortable on the ball.

At Wembley, Guardiola won the battle. With Arsenal still holding a commanding lead in the Premier League, Arteta will still retain confidence he can win the war.

James McNicholas

Cherki’s keepie-uppies and Guardiola’s reaction

Guardiola has often cut a beleaguered figure during what had, until today, been an indifferent season for City. But any suggestion the fire inside him has been dimmed was emphatically dispelled by his celebrations for both goals.

When O’Reilly headed in after Arrizabalaga’s mistake, Guardiola screamed in delight, jumped up and fist-pumped the air. All standard enough fare for a cup-final goal, but he followed this up by leathering the advertising hoarding in an outpouring of emotion so unusual for the Catalan.

Referee Peter Bankes had no option but to book him for this wanton act of sponsorship vandalism, but Guardiola will care little. His reaction to O’Reilly’s second was more controlled, but still at the wilder end of his typical spectrum, running down the touchline with both arms aloft.

He had a different reaction later to Cherki, who is a born entertainer, even if his footballing wizardry veers into the realms of showboating at times. With City two up and in control, Rodri fizzed a crossfield pass to Cherki on the left touchline. The France international cushioned the ball on his chest and then engaged in a series of keepie-uppies.

Professional footballers do not generally take too kindly to this kind of showmanship, and Ben White, who was nearest to these crowd-pleasing flicks, was nonplussed. The Arsenal right-back cleaned out Cherki moments later, collecting a yellow card for his aggression.

White was clearly irritated, but so too was Cherki’s own manager. Guardiola shook his head in disapproval. It is not the first time he has taken issue with Cherki’s need to entertain. After his spectacular rabona assist against Sunderland in December, Guardiola reminded him that Lionel Messi would always choose the most effective option, not the most impressive one.

But trying to contain Cherki’s urge to bedazzle and enthral seems a fool’s errand, and he likely needs that impulse to produce his best football.

Conor O’Neill

O’Reilly and the big moments

Guardiola likes to rub his fingers under his nose when talking about players “with the smell of goal”, and that is a label that easily applies to O’Reilly.

It has been a roundabout route to an attacking midfield role for the academy graduate — he was always a goalscoring midfielder in his youth football days, but earned his first-team spot as a left-back last season and again this.

Indeed, that is where he played today! But in recent weeks he has generally been moved back into the middle, where he has looked entirely at home alongside the far more experienced Rodri and Bernardo Silva. He has scored goals from that more advanced position, including a fine strike on the break and two against Newcastle, the second of which was exactly the kind of goal he scored today: arriving into the six-yard box to plant a header into the net.

Guardiola’s tactical plans on Sunday gave him the platform to get into that same area, despite still being nominally a left-back — when he left the back four, the other three simply stayed back. Although such was City’s dominance in that period, even Nunes was able to gallop up the pitch to put in the cross for O’Reilly’s second. There could be movement in the City midfield this summer, with Bernardo likely to move on and uncertainty around Rodri, whose contract expires next year, but O’Reilly could easily be part of the plans for years to come. As long as he is not needed at left-back.

Sam Lee

Guardiola’s love of the League Cup

Guardiola loves this competition because he loves winning — and not just the finals but the games against Burton Albion and Bristol City and Huddersfield Town and whoever they play against. The Catalan recently expressed his love for the FA Cup, with its pokey stadiums and fans welcoming the big boys with chants of, “Who are ya?” And, although the Carabao Cup is never going to be the same as that, with its midweek schedule and obvious lack of comparative history, it is a competition Guardiola is fond of.

Of course, he uses it as an opportunity to rotate his line-ups and he would be mad not to, give the importance of the other competitions, but he is roughly as proud of City’s four consecutive League Cups in a row as the four Premier League titles. Roughly. His evident passion and enthusiasm on Sunday is obviously understandable in the context of being a serial winner, but this is also the first trophy of an entirely new City team, one without the big-game know-how of his previous great sides.

He could not have known how this group of players would face a final like this against a team as good and difficult to play against as Arsenal, and yet they put in their best performance of the season. No wonder he is happy.

Sam Lee

Where does this leave Arsenal’s season?

There will be a lot of noise surrounding Arsenal’s trophy credentials after this defeat, but they should not let the criticism cut too deep.

This group of players had not played in a cup final together, but have now experienced the ebbs of flows of one. They started the better team, but City found a way to shift the momentum and continue building.

Momentum is going to be the key for the rest of Arsenal’s season, so they will appreciate the upcoming internationals as a clean break after this disappointment.

Returning to action in the FA Cup and Champions League before playing their next Premier League game will only heighten the need to bounce back with wins ahead of their trip to the Etihad on April 19.

Arsenal had not lost in their last six matches against City before today, but the way Guardiola’s players managed the game will give them extra belief ahead of that April meeting.

Arsenal do not have the fear that former sides did when travelling to Manchester, but they will now know that game will be a showdown for who wins the Premier League title.

Art de Roche