Arsenal knocked out of the Carabao Cup after shock defeat to Brighton

(Football news) Brighton & Hove Albion mounted a fantastic comeback win to knock out Arsenal from the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win. The Gunners took the lead through Eddie Nketiah in the 20th minute but the Seagulls hit back when Danny Welbeck converted a penalty before goals in the second half by Kaoru Mitoma and Tariq Lamptey in the second half sealed an invaluable victory. To say that the result was an upset would be an understatement as Arsenal have been the in-form team in the season so far and have gone beyond the third round of the Carabao Cup 17 times in the last 20 years. However, being eliminated from the competition means that Arsenal can now focus on their Premier League title challenge without the additional distraction.

Speaking after the match, Brighton boss Robert De Zerbi said “We can play better. We made stupid mistakes. But I'm happy for this win because we were a bit lucky in the first part of the second half, as Arsenal could have scored from two or three chances. But I'm happy because we have many young players who were playing for me for the first time, and it's difficult when you're not playing so much. For me it's very important to have a cup run and for this win against Arsenal. It's an honour to win in this stadium but we have to think about the next game from tomorrow, and prepare the best we can for the next game. We want to win and to play better." 

Goalkeeper Karl Hein, who was picked over Aaron Ramsdale and Arsenal’s number 2 Matt Turner was responsible for conceding a penalty, resulting in the first goal but Arteta justified the selection by saying “He deserved a chance. He is the first-choice goalkeeper of his national team and that is unusual [for his age]. If I had to pick the team again tomorrow I would play him again, because you need the experience of playing matches. Errors are a part of the game, it's about how you react to the error." 

Concerns have been raised about Arsenal’s squad depth and addressing the issue, Arteta said “That's the squad we have. We have to try and utilise it as well as possible. But today we came up short. We didn't do what we needed to do in both boxes to win the match. We know where we are and we have injuries in a squad that is already short. We have to manage that in the best possible situation." 

Also read: Chelsea crash out of the Carabao Cup after defeat to Manchester City

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