Gary Neville directly blamed Kepa Arrizabalaga’s ‘nonsense’ behaviour of rolling the ball under his foot for Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final collapse at Wembley.
The Gunners went in at half-time of Sunday’s Wembley showpiece level with Manchester City but quickly lost control – with stand-in goalkeeper Kepa fumbling for Nico O’Reilly’s opening goal.
But it was the former Chelsea stopper’s actions before the goal that caught the attention of Neville, working on commentary duties for Sky Sports.
Kepa, Arsenal’s effective ‘cup keeper’, came into the team in place of David Raya but the decision proved costly for Mikel Arteta as the Gunners’ silverware drought continued and their hopes of winning all four trophies this season evaporated.
Neville said Arsenal brought pressure on themselves and pinpointed Kepa – who had repeatedly put his foot on top of the ball to slow down passing around the backline to hunt for options on where to play the ball.
Kepa Arrizablaga had a howler as Arsenal lost control of the Carabao Cup final
Neville had earlier posted this photo from the commentary gantry at Wembley Stadium
It was that behaviour that Neville dubbed ‘nonsense’ leading to ‘punch after punch’ coming from City on the Arsenal goal.
‘They were knocking at the door and City’s fans could smell blood behind that goal,’ Neville said on Sky Sports.
‘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.
‘City deserve that, they have been much the better team at the start of the second half and Arsenal now need to show up – what has happened to them in this second half? They have shrunk.
‘Arsenal have gone missing in this second half.’
It’s not the first time Kepa has grabbed headlines in a Carabao Cup final. In 2019 against Man City he refused to be substituted by Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri in a game the Blues ultimately lost on penalties.
And in 2022 he came on as a ‘penalty specialist’ in the final against Liverpool before failing to save any of the Reds’ penalties and then blazing the decisive spot-kick of his own over the crossbar.
