Manchester City offered a new trophy to Pep Guardiola and inflicted new disillusionment on Arsenal, this Sunday in a League Cup final won 2-0 at Wembley, the Spanish coach’s second home. The “Sky Blues” arrived at the north London stadium like a wounded beast, with a declining aura and still bruised by their elimination on Tuesday in the Champions League, but they should not be buried too quickly.
Wembley has been their garden since the arrival of Guardiola, their successful coach, and the latter added a fifth League Cup to his immense record, his sixteenth major title with Manchester. He did it against his former assistant, Mikel Arteta, with whom he had won the first of his four “League Cups” in a row, in 2018.
The Catalan master extended his former student’s drought on the Arsenal bench, thanks to the strong header of Nico O’Reilly, his left side author of an improbable double in the second half (60e64e). Arteta’s record remains stuck at one title, the one won in the FA Cup in 2020, seven months after his arrival, against Chelsea at a Wembley emptied by the pandemic.
Trafford decisive…
Without the triple early intervention of James Trafford (23), the City goalkeeper lined up in the cup, the outcome would probably have been different. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s liner deployed in front of Kai Havertz, then twice on shots from Bukayo Saka (7e). This triple attempt by the Gunners represented the only real cannon shot in a tasteless first period, rather choppy and where there were many more shots given than chances created.
The defenses took the upper hand, like William Saliba on Erling Haaland, who only had one header, off target, to get his teeth into (45e). The Frenchman won this strong duel with powerful and controlled interventions.
But with City, the danger is always multiple and neutralizing the Norwegian giant is not always enough. The first goal came from a cross from Rayan Cherki that Kepa, Arsenal’s usual No.2 goalkeeper, let slip through his gloves, a godsend that O’Reilly seized with a header past Martin Zubimendi (60e1-0).
…Kepa at fault
The Spanish goalkeeper continued his museum of horrors at Wembley: he had already lost two cup finals there, with Chelsea, by refusing to give up his place before the penalty shootout against Man City, in 2019, then missed his during the defeat against Liverpool three years later.
On the second goal, his responsibility is less engaged. O’Reilly took advantage of a cross from Matheus Nunes to double the lead (64e2-0) and send his people to paradise. Guardiola celebrated with a sprint along the touchline, before being overtaken by Donnarumma, who came to celebrate the double with his friends.
Arsenal will have to digest this seventh final lost in the League Cup (a record in the event) so as not to let all its other objectives slip away, from the Premier League to the FA Cup (quarter-final against Southampton) via the Champions League (quarter against Sporting).
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