Arsenal's Quadruple Dream Shattered by Cup Defeats to City, Southampton

Thirteen days was all it took. Two defeats in two different cup competitions stripped Arsenal of a quadruple that no English club had ever achieved, leaving a squad decimated by injuries to salvage what remains from the wreckage.

The first blow landed at Wembley on March 22, when Nico O'Reilly headed Arsenal into submission twice within four minutes to hand Manchester City a 2-0 Carabao Cup final victory. The goals would not have arrived without a critical error from Kepa Arrizabalaga, selected ahead of first-choice goalkeeper David Raya by manager Mikel Arteta. Kepa fumbled Rayan Cherki's cross directly into the path of the 21-year-old City full-back, who nodded into an empty net. O'Reilly then repeated the exercise four minutes later, completing a rout that handed Pep Guardiola's side a fifth League Cup under his management and extended Arsenal's wait for the trophy to 33 years, their last victory coming in 1992-93. It was the fourth consecutive League Cup final Arsenal had lost. Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus both struck the woodwork in the closing stages but could not alter the scoreline. Arteta described the loss as a "ball of poison" that would haunt him "for the next 30 years."

With those wounds still fresh, Arsenal traveled to St Mary's Stadium on April 4 and lost 2-1 to Southampton, a Championship side sitting seventh in England's second tier. Ross Stewart put the hosts ahead on 34 minutes. Viktor Gyökeres pulled Arsenal level in the 68th minute, converting after Gabriel Magalhães split the Southampton defense with a precise through ball. But Magalhães limped off during the match, and substitute Shea Charles settled the tie five minutes from time, placing into the bottom corner to send the Saints to Wembley. Southampton had arrived at St Mary's on a 14-game unbeaten run.

The FA Cup exit was only Arsenal's fifth defeat in 50 games this season, a statistic that underscores how damaging the manner of the loss was. Arteta pointed to a fundamental vulnerability: "We didn't manage the long balls well enough, which is something very strange. In the first half, we just let the ball through us and they were one against one. The way we concede the second goal was very similar." He urged his players "to look in the mirror."

The injury picture only darkens the outlook. Eberechi Eze (calf), Declan Rice, Martín Zubimendi, Jurrien Timber, Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka, and Noni Madueke were all either absent or carrying knocks heading into April. Most tellingly, William Saliba, Arsenal's first-choice centre-back, did not even start at Southampton.

Yet the season is not over. Arsenal hold a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League, though Manchester City have a game in hand. A Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP opens in Lisbon on April 7, with the second leg at the Emirates on April 15, four days before a potentially title-defining Premier League clash at the Etihad on April 19. Sky Sports pundit and former Arsenal player Paul Merson believes the Gunners will still win the league but no other trophy this season.

Winning the Champions League would deliver Arsenal their first-ever continental title. Whether a squad battered by injuries and stung by two cup exits in a fortnight still has the depth for that fight is now the defining question of their season.