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MIKEL ARTETA must be thinking that someone up there has screwed it up while contemplating a miserable Christmas and an unhappy New Year.
Even his magic touch in cup competitions has left the bewildered Spaniard who simply doesn’t know where his next win will come from.
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His team in distress was mercilessly slaughtered by a rampant Manchester City seeking to win the League Cup for the fourth consecutive season.
And with friends like Pep Guardiola, Arteta certainly doesn’t need enemies.
His managerial mentor was clearly in no mood to do his former Etihad assistant any favors on another night to forget for Arsenal.
Almost everything that could go wrong for the Gunners went wrong as they suffered their toughest loss of the year from Arteta in charge.
Gabriel Martinelli could face another long period on the sidelines after limping out of the action after just 47 minutes.
Guardian Alex Runarsson released one to help City that they didn’t really need and even the VAR couldn’t come to Arteta’s rescue.
Now you wonder how much more Arsenal can fall when faced with the nightmare of a visit from Chelsea on Boxing Day.
They could hardly have gotten off to a worse start last night when they found themselves back just 125 seconds after the start.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko was given too much room to cross to the near post, where Gabriel Jesus was allowed to shift between Shkodran Mustafi and goalkeeper Alex Runarsson to head home.
Arteta could only watch in silent fury as her team’s defensive deficiencies were once again exposed for all to see.
He made wholesale changes to the team defeated by Everton at the weekend, but all the family flaws remained.
His players seemed terrified by their own shadows as they constantly backed away from a rampant City team that could clearly smell blood.
Fernandinho’s indisputable effort was deflected by Gabriel and Runarsson was fortunate not to be tackled by Jesus in his own six-yard box as he hesitated on a back pass.
City haven’t exactly turned the world on fire this season, but they have been quietly talking about their affairs in recent weeks, arriving in the Emirates after an eight-game unbeaten streak.
More troubling for Arsenal was learning that their opponents had conceded only once during that time … and even that was an own goal.
So it was absolute lightning when the Gunners tied in the 31st minute with practically their first attack of the night when Alex Lacazette contained Aymeric Laoprte to go in front.
It was a goal that owed everything to the perseverance of the teenage Martinelli, whose precise running center was simply clamoring for a shot.
It says everything about Arsenal’s current dilemma that they are pinning a lot of their hopes on the 19-year-old Argentine who started his first game since knee surgery in the summer.
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Arteta has been doing his best to lower the burden of expectations on the returning forward’s shoulders.
But Martinelli has shown that he is more than happy to carry that weight and is probably the only ray of light in the Emirates right now.
Sadly for Arsenal, that was to demonstrate the youngster’s final contribution to the night after taking a painful blow to the ankle from goalkeeper Zack Steffen as they challenged for Joe Willock’s direct pass.
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He tried to move on after a long treatment during the break, but two minutes after the restart he had to be replaced by Nicolás Pepe.
Now, Arsenal will be praying that his injury is not as severe as it initially appeared because there is very little else for anxious Gunners fans to get excited about.
Any hope of somehow snatching a 16th victory in 17 cup qualifiers with Arteta was completely dashed by a devastating three-goal flurry in the space of 19 minutes of the second half.
City should have been out of sight by then with Laporte and Ruben Dias both heading up decent chances before Jesus was thwarted by Runarsson after being sent on target by a charming Phil Foden heel.
But the Icelandic Arsenal goalkeeper found himself in high spirits when he allowed Riyad Mahrez’s 54-minute free kick to slip through his fingers to restore City’s advantage.
And worse was the hour when Runarsson was again defeated by a skillful shot from Foden after a direct pass from Fernandinho.
Television replays showed the young England star was half a yard out of play when he played, but without the VAR to intervene, there was no one to forgive linesman Stuart Burt’s blushes.
Not that City needed help to secure their spot in tonight’s semi-final draw for the trophy that Guardiola has come to regard as personal property.
They secured their victory in the 73rd minute when Laporte headed unopposed from a Foden cross and you almost started to feel sorry for Arsenal after that.
Arteta says he’s not prepared to tolerate casualties in his squad, but there is still plenty of room for losers.
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