Mikel Arteta has continued to give his backing to young goalkeeper Karl Hein despite his disastrous Arsenal debut on Wednesday evening.
The Estonian stopper was handed his first-team bow against Brighton in the Carabao Cup - regular No.2 Matt Turner having to make do with a place on the bench. The 20-year-old endured a difficult evening against the Seagulls, though, having been on the end of a 3-1 defeat as his side bowed out at the third round.
Shortly after Eddie Nketiah had opened the scoring for the Gunners, former Arsenal man Danny Welbeck equalised from the penalty spot after drawing a foul from Hein following an unfortunate slip.
Kaoru Mitoma then put the visitors ahead with a well-taken strike before Tariq Lamptey extended their lead, Hein not exactly covering himself in glory for the defender’s goal as he hesitated to close him down before being beaten at his near post.
Despite those errors, Arteta has leapt to the defence of the young goalkeeper and has claimed that his first-team chances will not be affected by his disappointing debut.
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard said: “I think he [Hein] deserves the chance. He’s the first goalie of the national team and at his age that’s not usual. If I have to play him tomorrow again I would. Errors are part of football.”
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Whilst absolving Hein of blame, the Arsenal boss instead pointed to his forward players for not converting their chances but stopped short of saying he would have selected a different team.
“The view is that the result doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch, I think it’s clear,” Arteta continued. “In moments where we were clearly on top of the game we didn’t take our opportunities. There was a big difference between efficiency in both areas and we paid a big price for it.
“It’s a shame for the boys because I think they really tried and we should have scored two or three in the second half. I would select the same players if I had the opportunity again.”
The reverse at the hands of Brighton was just Arsenal’s third defeat in all competitions this season having also lost to Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven. They will be aiming to get back to winning ways ahead of the upcoming break for the World Cup and with it continue an unlikely challenge for the Premier League title.
The Gunners travel to Molineux to take on struggling Wolves on Saturday evening. Should they win, then they could potentially extend their advantage over Manchester City to five points.
Pep Guardiola ’s men take on Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
