Arsenal were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle after a 4-0 aggregate defeat in the semi-finals with one star coming in for heavy criticism from Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher didn’t hold back in his criticism of Arsenal’s David Raya after the Gunners were demolished by Newcastle and dumped out of the Carabao Cup.
Mikel Arteta’s side suffered a 4-0 thrashing on aggregate in the semi-finals, missing out on a trip to Wembley and the chance to finally win some silverware after nearly five barren years.
The Gunners were significantly behind going into last night’s encounter at St James’ Park. Newcastle already had a 2-0 lead from the first leg after a convincing win at the Emirates, and there may have been some nerves about Arsenal potentially overturning their advantage.
However, the Magpies quickly asserted their dominance as they took an early lead through Jacob Murphy, thanks to excellent work from Alexander Isak.
Despite being ahead, Newcastle continued to press for another goal. Arsenal’s defence appeared shaky, and this was highlighted when Raya was responsible for their second goal, reports the Mirror.
Raya attempted to initiate play from the back but chose to pass directly to Declan Rice, who was under pressure from high-pressing Newcastle players.
Rice lost possession to the relentless Fabian Schar, whose tackle allowed Anthony Gordon to easily score. And Carragher did not hold back in his assessment.
Carragher criticised Raya’s decision-making post-match, tweeting: “Keepers need to be banned from playing those passes into midfield players.”
Raya wasn’t the only one whose performance was scrutinised. Gary Neville also criticised centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba for being left “on toast” by Alexander Isak.
During a thrilling moment in the match as Isak ran rings around Arsenals defence to set up Newcastle’s first goal, he couldn’t help but praise the striker on-air: “It’s all about Isak. He is messing the Arsenal centre backs about.
“Look at him against Saliba, he (Saliba) thinks he has got in front and he pops it round the corner. What a strike it is, and a piece of good fortune because the pass isn’t into him and it then falls to Murphy. But he has Gabriel and Saliba on toast.”