This Sunday, Wembley hosted the Carabao Cup final, with an enticing matchup between the top two in the Premier League: Arsenal, leader, facing their runner-up, Manchester City. And at the end of this meeting, the Cityzens won (0-2) thanks to a double from Nico O’Reilly. Solid in the league, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners had the opportunity to win a first trophy since 2020, having remained undefeated at Wembley under the Spanish coach’s era. Opposite, Pep Guardiola’s men hoped to salvage a hitherto irregular season with a new title. As for absentees, Eberechi Eze and Jurriën Timber were missing for Arsenal, while Rúben Dias withdrew at the last minute from the Mancunian side.
The match started at a fairly timid pace, before coming to life in the 7th minute with a huge sequence from James Trafford, imperious in front of Kai Havertz then Bukayo Saka on three occasions. Despite this alert, the rest of the first period lacked sharpness. Manchester City tried to make differences on the wings with Jérémy Doku and Antoine Semenyo, without success in the last move, while Arsenal struggled to appear truly dangerous. The two teams finally returned to the locker rooms with a goalless draw.
9th coronation in the competition for the Skyblues
Upon returning from the locker room, Manchester City clearly raised their voice. More aggressive in recovery and quicker in their sequences, the Cityzens ended up cracking the London defense. After a powerful cross from Cherki on the right side into the area, Kepa completely missed and released the ball on his line. Nico O’Reilly then took advantage of an inattentive Zubimendi to head the ball into the back of the net (60th, 0-1).
Four minutes later, City hit the nail on the head. Well served by Rodri, Matheus Nunes crossed at ground level towards the far post, where Nico O’Reilly appeared again to deceive Kepa and score a double (64th, 0-2). An unexpected scenario for the young 21-year-old player, which allows Manchester City to win the ninth League Cup in its history and leave Wembley with a new title.
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