The League Cup organisers have mocked Mikel Arteta after the Arsenal manager blamed the "tricky" match ball for his team's loss against Newcastle.
Newcastle United secured a significant advantage towards reaching the Wembley final with a 2-0 victory in the semi-final first leg at the Emirates on Tuesday, with Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon finding the net.
Despite Arsenal's 23 attempts at goal, only three were on target, with notable misses from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz. The competition uses Puma balls, whilst the Premier League employs Nike balls.
Arteta commented on the ball's behaviour, stating: "We kicked a lot of balls over the bar. It's tricky. This ball flies a lot. It's just very different to the Premier League ball and we have to adapt to that. It flies different, and the grip is very different as well."
Arsenal had previously scored 11 goals in their three League Cup matches this season before this semi-final first leg.
The Carabao Cup's social media account, with approximately 600,000 followers, shared Arteta's post-match comments about the ball alongside a meme featuring US rapper 50 Cent displaying a bewildered expression, seemingly criticising the Arsenal manager's remarks.
The victorious team from this tie, concluding at St James' Park on February 5, will face either Tottenham or Liverpool at Wembley.
Arteta faces mounting expectations to secure his second trophy as Arsenal's manager, following his FA Cup triumph in his inaugural season.
Arsenal, currently second in the Premier League, are set to host Manchester United in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
