Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey blames 'silly mistake' by Shkodran Mustafi for EFL Cup Final loss

Aaron Ramsey has said Shkodran Mustafi was guilty of a "silly mistake" that led to Manchester City’s opener in Arsenal’s 3-0 EFL Cup Final defeat on Sunday.

Sergio Aguero beat Mustafi to Claudio Bravo’s goal kick with what the German claimed was a push in the back - though replays would suggest the contact was at best minimal - before bursting through on goal and lobbing David Ospina to secure City an 18th-minute lead.

Prior to that Arsenal had been defending relatively effectively and posing a threat on the counter, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang forcing a fine double save from Claudio Bravo which Gunners boss Arsene Wenger believed could have changed the course of tie.

Wenger labelled Mustafi’s error a "self-inflicted" wound, and Ramsey offered a similarly frank assessment of City’s opener.

"Obviously we’re all very disappointed," he told reporters. "We wanted to try and win the game but we made a silly mistake which led to the first goal and that was disappointing.

"It’s always difficult when they take the lead and they’re such a quality team. They deserved the win today.

"I think Man City are a quality team and, like I said, they’ve opened up many teams this year. They did it on occasions to us today and they punished us every time. We’re disappointed.

"This is not how we wanted it to go, but we have to dust ourselves down now and get going for the game on Thursday [when Arsenal host Manchester City in the Premier League]."

Ramsey had battled back from a groin injury that had sidelined him for three matches, returning to training on Thursday and completing 73 minutes at Wembley.

The Welsh midfielder had been an energetic presence on Arsenal’s rare counters in the first half but seemed to fade when City upped the pressure in the second half.

"I felt like I was ready to play the game," he said. "I’ve missed a little bit of training but I’ve worked hard this week to get back. I felt ready and it was just one of those days where things didn’t go right for us on the pitch.

"We were determined from the beginning. We created a couple of opportunities and their keeper made a great save on one of them.

"Perhaps we could have taken the lead, but we can’t afford to concede goals in the way that we did today."