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Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte put together a comfortable night for City, who have yet to lose a game in England’s secondary club competition since 2016, and return Gabriel Martinelli suffered another injury in his first start at nine months while the pressure continued to mount on the chief gunner, Arteta.
Arsenal, which made eight changes since Saturday’s Premier League loss to Everton and were left without captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang due to a calf injury, started the competition in the worst possible way, with Jesus in form sliding into the gap between Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel Magalhaes, back from suspension, to head off a decent cross by Oleksandr Zinchenko from the baseline with Alex Runarsson left stranded.
Captain Fernandinho then approached with a low, bubbly effort as the crisis-stricken Gunners were already beginning to look completely devoid of confidence.
City dominated possession as Runarsson, offering a rare opportunity to impress in place of the usual No. 1 Bernd Leno, looked totally unconvincing with the ball at his feet, though Lacazette headed wide after a good industry from Joe Willock before Mahrez saw a deflected shot from behind Mohamed Elneny.
Elneny and Shkodran Mustafi entered the book for challenges over the stunning Jesus after Laporte sent his own barely deflected header, while Dani Ceballos fell theatrically to the ground after being caught with a hand to his face by Fernandinho as the pair pushed for the position. in a corner of the city.
Mahrez threw a free kick against the wall and Runarsson inexplicably ran out of his area for no good reason, though he temporarily redeemed himself later in the half with a good save from close range to frustrate Jesus after an excellent set-up play as well. involving Mahrez and the silky Foden.
With his energy and commitment, Martinelli was comfortably Arsenal’s best player in the first half and it was his center from the baseline that presented the ball for Lacazette to masterfully head home after escaping Laporte’s attentions.
However, the Brazilian suffered what appeared to be a right ankle injury after being caught during a challenge from City substitute goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who had run out of the area to prevent Martinelli from picking up a pass from Willock.
Martinelli was seen in considerable pain when he received treatment with the shirt covered by his face and he limped cautiously, although he reached the break and even started the 45 second before falling back down two minutes after the restart and being replaced by Nicolás Pepe . .
Shortly after that hit, Arsenal found themselves behind again, with the hugely unconvincing Runarsson allowing Mahrez’s free kick to twist between his fingers and after the Algerian was brought down by Gabriel and Elneny.
Things took a turn for the Gunners just before the hour, when a quick counterattack by City ended with Foden showing tremendous poise and a deft touch to lift Fernandinho’s pass over the running Runarsson.
To add insult to injury for Arteta’s men, replays showed Foden was offside when the pass was made. However, without VAR at this point in the Carabao Cup, the goal remained.
Later, Foden became a supplier, producing a tremendous cross after a short corner that Laporte readily nodded.
City’s bid for a fourth consecutive Carabao Cup win remains well on track, as they join Brentford in the last four after an incredible 18th consecutive victory in the competition, while Arsenal continue to search for answers ahead of a tough derby of the London Boxing Day against Chelsea.
