Former Arsenal and Manchester City player, Bacary Sagna has refused to blame Kepa Arrizabalaga for the Gunners Carabao Cup final defeat to the Cityzens at the Wembley on Sunday.
Sagna also blamed Germany International, Kai Havertz, for his missed chance in the early minutes of the game.
Although Kepa made the error leading to City’s first goal, Sagna blamed the entire team for not showing enough determination in the second half.
Mikel Arteta opted to start Kepa in goal over David Raya for the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper had played in all five Carabao Cup matches this season.
But it went wrong when he made a mistake, letting Nico O’Reilly score in the 60th minute.
The fullback scored again four minutes later to secure a 2-0 win for Manchester City.
After the game, Arteta got criticized for choosing to start Kepa instead of David Raya.
Bacary Sagna shared his views on this topic with Covers, via Football.London:
“Mikel Arteta didn’t make a mistake by starting Kepa in goal instead of David Raya.
“Although his error led to a goal against Arsenal, it wasn’t the sole reason for the Gunners’ defeat. Arsenal began to play more defensively in the second half and allowed Manchester City to apply pressure.
“They need to learn how to play more aggressively, sending the ball forward to take pressure off and set up a strong defensive line, instead of keeping it in their own half.”
Ruing Havertz’s missed opportunity in the first half, which Manchester City’s goalkeeper James Trafford stopped, Sagna said, “Every time they had the ball, they were too focused on playing from the back and ended up getting punished for it.
“If Kai Havertz had managed to score his early opportunity in the match, the outcome might have been entirely different.
“He needed to shoot earlier in order to have more goals to aim at, but James Trafford made a series of excellent saves and deserves considerable praise for his performance.”