REALISTIC Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy summed up the carnage of a 3-0 home defeat by Arsenal that ended the Black Cats Carling Cup campaign by admitting 'we were mullered'.

The Black Cats found the Gunners reserve side just too good at the Stadium of Light last night and McCarthy was only unhappy that his side couldn't give the near 48,000 Wearside crowd the victory they so desperately wanted.

But, with just two first half efforts on target to show for their labours, a win was never likely, and three second half goals just about summed up the Black Cats' night.

"They mullered us for the last half hour," said McCarthy, who side faced a Gunners XI which only arrived at the ground at 7pm last night, an hour before kick-off. "They were stronger, quicker.

"Arsene Wenger said to me after match that for an hour it was really tough our there.

"I would have loved to put on a show for the full house but let's just say that is no ordinary side of reserves they have."

Robin van Persie grabbed a brace with the opener scored by 22-year-old Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboue with a 25-yard thunderbolt goalkeeper Ben Alnwick just didn't see.

"Most of those players (Arsenal's) would get into most teams in the Premier League," said McCarthy.

"Arsene said to me we might have beaten their full-strength team. The players they had have something to prove.

"We knew about most of their players. We've had good reports on most of them.

"But don't forget we had a few fringe players out there as well.

"The good thing now I that we have three days before Saturday's game against Portsmouth."

McCarthy's counterpart Wenger was quick to heap praise on two-goal Van Persie, after the Dutch player showed all his qualities after enduring a summer of torment when he was charged with rape back in his homeland.

"I was pleased with Van Persie," said Wenger. "It has taken him a while to get going after what happened (in the summer).

"This was one of the first times this season we have seen him back to his best. He is a stronger player."

McCarthy agreed saying "Van Persie was outstanding - I didn't realise how good he was.

"A fantastic player."

Wenger added: ''We had a good base, defensively we were strong and they could have dealt with the games in the Premiership. We have some talented boys out there and they showed it.

''I felt Sunderland worked very hard, tried to put us under pressure with a very direct game. The size of our defenders helped us because we coped very well with the long balls.

''In patches we were dangerous going forward and you could see we had the quality to create chances, even if we lost the ball or were too much in a hurry to take our chances.

''We'd rush a little bit because of a lack of maturity but overall I'm very happy with the fact they could cope with a big crowd and against a team who was very committed.''