Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal deserved to be booed off after they were knocked out of the EFL Cup in the quarter-finals by Southampton to end a 19- game unbeaten run.
Southampton reached the competition’s last four for the first time in 30 years and only the third time in their history by outclassing an Arsenal side that had 10 personnel changes to the side that started their Premier League match with Bournemouth last weekend.
Mohamed Elneny, who almost missed out due to a stomach bug, was the only survivor and had to be substituted before half-time because of his condition.
But Wenger insisted: ‘It’s down to us to give the fans what they want. It is a fact. We have to live with that.
‘We had a disappointing performance, particularly in the first half. I think we were not good enough defensively and gave cheap goals away.
‘It was better in the second, but it was one of those nights where you look like you could play two hours without scoring a goal. We didn’t have enough urgency in the first half and were weak in some departments.
‘We paid for that. We were not incisive enough in the first half especially. They played deeper in the second half and were sharper than us and fitter.’
Wenger has never won the League Cup in his 20 years in charge of the north London club, but insisted he had no regrets about his decision to make so many changes.
‘I regret that we lost the game,’ he said. ‘We had played well until now. If you look at the players who played well tonight, some of those who did not play were on the edge.
‘We had players who are used to top level competition. But we didn’t have the right urgency.’
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