Petit Blames Arteta's Kepa Call for Arsenal's Wembley Collapse; Ljungberg Warns of Title Fight Fallout

Arsenal's Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City has sparked fierce debate over Mikel Arteta's team selection, with club legend Emmanuel Petit suggesting the manager's choice of goalkeeper proved decisive in Sunday's showpiece at Wembley.

Arteta opted to hand Kepa Arrizabalaga the nod between the sticks—the Spaniard having featured in all of Arsenal's earlier Carabao Cup ties—but his afternoon turned sour almost immediately. Kepa's mistake gifted Nico O'Reilly the opening goal, with the City midfielder adding a second header just four minutes later to wrap up the trophy for Pep Guardiola's side.

Despite the outcome, Arteta stood by his selection afterwards, insisting he would make the identical choice again. Petit, however, was unsparing in his criticism.

"When you play a final, it's different," Petit told talkSPORT. "The final—I don't care how you play it, you have to win it, which means you have to put your best players on the pitch. This is one single game and at the end you have a trophy or not."

The former Arsenal midfielder argued that sentiment should take a backseat to pragmatism in such circumstances. "Feelings for me are not a concern. You have to make choices for the best of the team, the best of the club and the fans. The fact is this mistake killed the game," Petit added.

Arsenal remain nine points clear atop the Premier League table, though City boast a game in hand. The sides meet again at the Etihad next month, and that encounter looms large given the psychological impact of Sunday's defeat.

Freddie Ljungberg acknowledged the sting of losing out. "It is a blow," the former Gunners winger said. "The talk of the town, that's Arsenal. They were doing amazing in the Champions League, it was the quadruple, everything was going their way. Manchester City had a Champions League run, they've been heavily criticised, but all of a sudden, they demolish Arsenal a little bit."

When pressed on whether the loss might have lingering consequences for Arsenal's title challenge, Arteta brushed aside such concerns. "We played 50 games today, so every time you have a defeat or a draw, if that's the consequence, you're not prepared to play 70 games because it's something that will happen at some point," the manager responded. "We have to prove it, we have to do it again. The good thing is that we have a very recent history, how this team has reacted in those moments, and I'm sure we're going to do it again."