Arsenal: Vincent Kompany exposes Shkodran Mustafi entirely

Vincent Kompany was masterful in Manchester City’s Carabao Cup final win; Shkodran Mustafi was not. The Arsenal centre-half was starkly exposed by his opposite number. It was not a pretty sight.

It was the 57th minute. The game was very much still in the balance. Shkodran Mustafi, who, bafflingly, had earlier mistakenly positioned himself in front of Sergio Aguero when defending a long and straight goal kick, exposing the Arsenal defence, David Ospina and subsequently the empty net, was attempting to clear the danger. He would fail.

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As the German scampered over to the ball, he was beaten to it by Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany. Kompany, urged towards the touchline by Mustafi, forcibly repelled the German’s advances, put him to the deck, turned past him with a surge of real athleticism and power, winning the corner that he so desperately sought. From it, he would score and end any chances that Arsenal had of hauling their way back into the match. The Carabao Cup was won.

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That was just a snapshot of the respective performances of the two centre-halves, but, sadly, it perfectly represented the disparity in their displays. One was striding, towering, domineering, commanding. The other was frail, soft-centred, unsure, and naive. It wasn’t easy to see which one was which.

Mustafi had a direct hand in City’s first two goals — the aforementioned clash with Kompany that conceded the corner, and his somewhat lapse marking of Sergio Aguero for the opening goal. It was the first mistake that was especially painful to endure. Offsides do not exist from goal kicks. It is something that Musafi should know. Either he did, but he chose to pick up a position that looked like he didn’t, or he didn’t. Neither is good.

As the ball floated towards Aguero and Mustafi scrambled back to recover his position, cleverly, the Argentine eased his shoulder into the back of Mustafi, nudging him under the ball, allowing it to roll down from his chest, bounce perfectly into his path, before poking it up and over the onrushing David Ospina who suffered from a bout of indecision at the most crucial moment.

Contrast that to defending to Kompany: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had just brilliantly flicked the ball into his path, powering his way into the channel vacated by Nicolas Otamendi. It seemed as if he had only the goal to bear down on. Kompany, though, had other ideas.

The City defender burst across the gap to cover for his partner, matched the pacy Aubameyang stride-for-stride, and then leaned his frame into him, easing him off the ball, turning and clearing away the danger. It was a brilliant piece of defending. It stands in stark contrast to that of his opposite number.

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The Mustafi mess at the other end cost Arsenal this game. There were other reasons, obviously. Football is a far more complex game than simply blaming one player. But the disparity between the two players’ performances was worrying, indicative of the increasing gap between these two football clubs.