Mikel Arteta congratulates goalkeeper Bernd Leno on his impressive performance in the Liverpool Carabao Cup victory

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists that Bernd Leno’s impressive performance in the Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool did not bring him any additional satisfaction in choosing to make the German goalkeeper his number one.

The Gunners sold Emiliano Martínez to Aston Villa last month, replacing him with Runar Runarsson, and that decision put the focus on Leno’s first player, but he delivered at Anfield with a series of saves in the second half to keep the game scoreless. .

That allowed Arsenal to win their second penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in just over a month, having done so at the Community Shield in late August, with midfielder Joe Willock scoring the decisive shot to put it 5-4 in death. sudden.

Bernd Leno’s impressive performance saw Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties on Thursday

“We had two fantastic goalkeepers and they were both performing very well, but we had decisions to make,” said Arteta, who is now unbeaten in eight national cup matches since taking office, having led them to the FA Cup for the season. pass.

I think it was a time when Emi needed the next step and financially it was an interesting proposition for us.

‘We have to use the resources we have to strengthen the team. He (Leno) was a great help to move on to the next round. ”

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was impressed with Leno’s performance as the number 1 goalkeeper

Although Arteta says that it did not give him more satisfaction to sell Emiliano Martínez

Arsenal, who are in their fourth League Cup quarter-final in five seasons, have tied current Manchester City in the round of 16, marking a meeting with their mentor Pep Guardiola for Arteta.

“I was enjoying the victory when I received the news,” he added.

“A huge challenge for us, we are not having much luck with the draws at the moment.”