Mikel Arteta has said it would have been ‘unfair’ to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga for the Carabao Cup final.
Kepa started the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at Wembley and was at fault for the opening goal, as the Spaniard allowed Rayan Cherki’s cross to fall from his grasp.
Nico O’Reilly punished the error to head home, before scoring a second just four minutes later as City claimed the trophy.
The decision to start Kepa has been criticised, with Arteta opting to retain his second-choice goalkeeper for the decider, ahead of regular number one David Raya.
Kepa had featured throughout the Carabao Cup campaign and Arteta said it would have been ‘very unfair’ to drop the 31-year-old from the side.
“I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season, the fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today. It would have been very unfair to choose a different one,” he said at full-time.
Arteta said that he had not promised Kepa his position but believes it was the right decision to stick with the Spaniard.
“No, I can never promise a player to play a certain competition because at the end they have to earn it and they have to do enough like any other position to do that. We are guided by what we’ve seen and what he’s always done in the competition and he helped us to go all the way through here. I believe it’s the right thing to do and that’s it. Errors are part of football and today it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment.
“We had eight amazing months with this team. Today is a disappointment. We need to use that fire in the belly for the next two months to have an incredible season.”
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