City win Carabao Cup against Arsenal
City bounced back from their Champions League elimination and won the League Cup after beating Arsenal 0-2 with a brace from O’Reilly.
Nico O’Reilly turned 21 on Saturday. And on Sunday, he won the League Cup. He scored both goals that secured a special title for City and for Guardiola. It was the first title he won in England. Four times in a row. It was also Arsenal’s fourth consecutive loss in League Cup final. And yet, Arteta had never lost at Wembley.
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The afternoon began like a chess match. Every move was overly calculated. There was hardly any spark. Chances were scarce. Arsenal had one, the first of the game, and the clearest. After six minutes, Havertz received a through ball, but Trafford won the one-on-one. The first of three saves the City goalkeeper made in that same play. Saka pounced on the first rebound, and the second, but couldn’t beat Trafford.
Arteta’s team threatened with a blistering start. More intense, more direct. It wasn’t until the 26th minute that the Manchester side had their first relatively long spell of possession. And even more so to contemplate his first approach to Arrizabalaga’s goal, although Haaland headed over the crossbar in the 44th minute.
City came out much more vibrant after the break. Pinning the Gunners back in their own half, hovering around the opposition’s penalty area. Lurking. Like O’Reilly around the hour mark. Arrizabalaga fumbled a cross from Bernardo on the right. He reacted quickly, outjumping Zubimendi and diving forward to punish the Basque goalkeeper for his mistake with a header into the net.
Four minutes later, they scored their second. City patiently moved the ball around the opposition’s area. Until their right-back, Nunes, whipped in a cross that their left-back, O’Reilly, headed home again. The four best minutes of his life. Arsenal’s worst of the season. They were invisible. They seemed to have stayed in the dressing room; it didn’t look like they had even come out for the break. Such was the dominance of the Manchester side. Incapable of stringing together three passes. Obsessed with playing out from the back, but unable to find a way to do it.
Arteta’s team struggled to react, if they ever did at all. Calafiori nearly roused the fans in the stands, but his shot struck the post. And Jesus’ effort hit the crossbar, but it was too late.
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