Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez spoke on Sky Sports after his side smashed four past Arsenal in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup tonight.
It only took a little over two minutes for the visitors to take the lead. Gabriel Jesus got himself ahead of Alex Runarsson to head the ball in. Alexandre Lacazette levelled the game at the half-hour mark and that gave us some hope going into the break.
Sadly, a howler from Runarsson gave City their second lead of the game. Mahrez fired a free-kick straight at the Iceland international and it looked a simple save. However, the former Dijon man let it bounce into his own net and that cost us the game.
Mahrez was asked about Runarsson’s error and the former Leicester man explained what he noticed about the Arsenal goalkeeper before he took his free-kick.
Mahrez: Runarsson’s positioning surprised me
He said: “I was surprised at the position of the keeper. He was so close to the post. I thought he was going to move a little bit, that’s why I tried to put it there but he didn’t move. Luckily he didn’t catch it properly and that was good for us.”
Runarsson’s positioning for a free-kick in the first half was very similar. He was far too close to the post but that had nothing to do with his error. If anything, that should have made it easier for him to save that shot, but he messed it up completely.
Phil Foden scored City’s third goal just five minutes after Runarsson’s mistake, but the Englishman looked offside. VAR would have ruled that out, but strangely, the FA don’t use it in this competition.
The third goal killed the game off but Pep Guardiola’s men weren’t done. Aymeric Laporte scored again and that was the first time in almost six 60 years that Manchester City managed to score four goals away at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta is under more pressure than he already was. The game against Chelsea was always going to be a must-win, but it’s even more critical now. If we lose again on Boxing Day after what happened today, our board might just have to consider the unthinkable.
