Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has criticised Mikel Arteta for “killing” the Carabao Cup final before it had even begun by starting Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Gunners head coach opted to start Kepa, who has started for Arsenalin all their other matches in the competition, and the Spaniard made a mistake leading to Nico O’Reilly’s opener for Man City in Sunday’s showpiece event at Wembley.

O’Reilly scored another header just four minutes later to give Man City victory with Pep Guardiola’s outfit winning the first major silverware on offer this term.

Arteta insisted after the match that he would have made the decision again over Kepa but Petit reckons the choice of goalkeeper “killed” the match for Arsenal.

Petit told talkSPORT: “In some way I can understand what Arteta is saying but in a way when you play a final it’s different.

“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.

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“This is one single game and at the end of the game you have a trophy or not. For me this is the big difference.

“I can understand what Arteta said about Kepa and honestly it’s nice for him to say that but at this point don’t make feelings first. We are talking about wining a trophy.

“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.”

Premier League leaders Arsenal are still in the driving seat to win the Premier League title with the Gunners nine points ahead of Man City.

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But the Citizens have a game in hand on the Gunners, while Arsenal also have to travel to the Etihad Stadium next month, and Freddie Ljungberg reckons defeat in the Carabao Cup final could be a mental “blow”.

Ljungberg said: “It is a blow. The talk of the town, that’s Arsenal. Arsenal are the new ones coming in.

“They are 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 asked if the result could have long-term effects, Arteta replied: “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.

“We haven’t allowed that to happen, 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.”

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