Wayne Rooney makes Premier League title claim after Arsenal’s defeat to Man City
Wayne Rooney has downplayed the importance of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City on the Premier League title race.
Man City secured the first piece of silverware of the season courtesy of a 2-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday.
The Gunners were hoping to lift their first major trophy since 2020 but were undone by Nico O’Reilly’s quickfire second-half brace.
Speaking after the final, Gary Neville suggested Man City had ‘landed a psychological blow’ on Arsenal as they attempt to reel in the Premier League leaders.
Arsenal boast a nine-point lead at the top of the table but are aware City have a game in hand and a home match against them to close the gap.
Rooney doubts the Carabao Cup final will have a huge impact on the title race, however, and is still backing Arsenal to lift the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years.
Asked how big an impact Man City’s win will have on the title race, Rooney said on his BBC podcast: ‘I don’t think it will.
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‘Arsenal are still in a very good position, as good a position as you can be at this stage of the season.
‘For Man City to catch them I think they have to win every game and Arsenal drop seven points. City will need to beat them at home as well.
‘So I think it’s a tough ask. You never know but I just think Arsenal need to dust themselves down and move on from this quickly.
‘I’m sure they will go back to winning games and see the title out. I just think Arsenal are too good, too efficient and too strong defensively to let it slip from here.’
Asked whether he felt Arsenal could ‘bottle’ the Premier League title, the Manchester United and England legend added: ‘I think this team is different. From all the things I have seen, they look mentally stronger.’
Jamie Carragher also still expects Arsenal to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title despite the Carabao Cup final blow.
‘Man City have let themselves down with a couple of results of late, and there’s enough breathing space for Arsenal right now [for this to] not affect them too much mentally,’ he said on Sky Sports.
‘In terms of the Premier League, they’ve got a great lead. Yes, if they lose at Man City, it could be on. Of course, it could be, but if [the gap] was a lot tighter it would play into it a little bit more.
‘Arsenal have been the best team in the league. They’ve only lost four games out of 50 [in all competitions], let’s not get too carried away, let’s not forget that.
‘And in the Champions League, they’re on the right side of the draw, and they’ve got a great opportunity [to reach the final].
‘But what we saw today, and one of the criticisms I have of Arsenal as a team… is that they lack something really special in the attack.
‘They lack a world-class talent who could have just turned that game forward. They definitely lack that.’
After a lengthy gap Arsenal return to Premier League action on April 11 against Bournemouth, while Man City visit Chelsea the following day.
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