Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Mikel Arteta took the blame for Arsenal’s painful 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat at West Ham.
Arteta made six changes to his line-up for the fourth-round clash, starting with Declan Rice on the bench on his Hammers homecoming.
Rice, who lifted the Europa Conference League trophy as West Ham captain last season, was back at his old club for the first time since his £105million switch to the Gunners.
Declan Rice endured a miserable return to the London stadium (John Walton/PA)
But he will not be getting his hands on the Carabao Cup this season after strikes from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen, following an early own goal by Ben White, sent the north Londoners crashing out.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Gunners boss Arteta. “I’m responsible for that, we’re out of the cup, we wanted to play a very different game and compete.
“The game took a direction because of the first goal but we have to see much more from the team and earn the right to win.
“I’m disappointed with myself. We wanted to play in a different way and we weren’t able to do that. Every time we lose the pain is there.
“We have to use this pain and this defeat to prepare the best way for Newcastle on Saturday.”
West Ham took the lead after 15 minutes when Bowen’s corner was inadvertently headed past Aaron Ramsdale by White at the near post.
The second goal arrived in the 50th minute when Ghana winger Kudus collected a long ball into the box from Nayef Aguerd, skipped past Oleksandr Zinchenko and rifled a low shot through the legs of Gabriel and into the net.
Rice was the only goalscorer the last time West Ham beat Arsenal, in the Premier League in 2019.
“You should have signed for a big club” was the mischievous chant
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