Arsenal player ratings: Kepa error & invisible Saka condemns Gunners to Man City defeat
Arsenal have suffered a major setback with defeat in today’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
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The Gunners were pretty poor in every department, with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga making a particularly bad error on Man City’s first goal, while attackers like Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Viktor Gyokeres didn’t contribute enough either.
Nico O’Reilly scored both goals for City as they went on to lift the trophy, and few will argue that they didn’t deserve it.
Read on for our Arsenal player ratings in a performance most of these players will want to forget fast…
Arsenal player ratings vs Manchester City
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 2/10 – Unconvincing on the ball, and unfortunately just always looked prone to an error, which eventually came when he failed to deal with the cross for the first goal. Surely an end to him starting big games for Arsenal.
William Saliba – 7/10 – Kept Erling Haaland quiet very well, and probably the only Arsenal player to come away with much credit as it’s hard to find much he did wrong on the day.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 6/10 – Not the worst player on the pitch by any means, but not his usual calm self on the ball, which made it hard for Arsenal to build from the back.
Ben White – 4/10 – While Ben White has been a great performer for much of his Arsenal career, it’s perhaps easy to see why Jurrien Timber is now the clear first choice when fit. Jeremy Doku ran White ragged for much of the game when you sense Timber might’ve done a bit better to keep the City winger quiet.
Piero Hincapie – 4/10 – Like White on the other side, it was a really unconvincing display from Piero Hincapie. The Ecuador international couldn’t handle Antoine Semenyo and probably should’ve been replaced by Riccardo Calafiori a lot earlier.
Martin Zubimendi – 5/10 – Just slightly off the pace and unable to control the midfield like he can do at his best. Martin Zubimendi is perhaps tired, more than anything else, after starting so many games in what has been a very intense season for Arsenal.
Declan Rice – 6/10 – Worked harder than a lot of his teammates, but didn’t bring as much quality as he’s capable of.
Kai Havertz – 4/10 – Probably not fit enough to be starting a big game like this, and it showed. Kai Havertz has a role to play in this Arsenal squad, and has been missed through injury, but it’s obvious that Eberechi Eze would have started and would surely have been more influential had he been fit enough.
Bukayo Saka – 3/10 – Considering he captained Arsenal on the day and is their highest paid player, this was really far from good enough from Bukayo Saka. The England winger was pretty much invisible throughout and has not quite looked himself for most of this season. To show up and play like this in such an important game is pretty unforgiveable.
Leandro Trossard – 4/10 – Pretty quiet, as he has been for a while now. Somehow not replaced by Gabriel Martinelli until the closing stages.
Viktor Gyokeres – 4/10 – Worked hard and caused City some problems with his movement early on, but you want more than that from your marquee striker signing in a major cup final.
Subs: Riccardo Calafiori 6, Noni Madueke 6, Gabriel Martinelli 5, Gabriel Jesus 6
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