A lot of changes were made to Arsenal’s team, and they lost 3-1 to West Ham on Wednesday, sending them out of the League Cup. Manager Mikel Arteta felt bad about that choice.
The home team went ahead with an own goal by Ben White. But goals by Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen early in the second half sealed the deal.
Declan Rice was left off when Arteta went back to the London Stadium. The England international was on the bench with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and William Saliba, all of whom are big names at Arsenal.
Aaron Ramsdale got to start because David Raya was taken out and Aaron Ramsdale was put in. It was a bad night for the Arsenal custodian.
Bowen sent in a dangerous corner kick, and White got there before Ramsdale. But after 16 minutes, he could only head it into his own net.
Eddie Nketiah did start for the away team. He had just scored his first hat-trick in the Premier League, as his team beat Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday.
But he missed Arsenal’s best chance to tie the game when he shot high just before halftime.
Kudus instead made it 2-0 with a great touch and low finish on Nayef Aguerd’s long ball forward in the 50th minute.
When Rice was then presented, the West Ham fans had mixed feelings.
Any hopes that Arsenal had of coming back were dashed by Bowen’s goal from the edge of the box on the hour mark.
It was Jakub Kiwior’s fault that Ramsdale couldn’t keep it out, but he should have done better.
In the last few minutes, Arteta brought on Saka, Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli. Odegaard scored a goal to make things better deep into extra time.
But it was too little, too late. Arsenal still hasn’t won the League Cup in 30 years.