O'Reilly brace lifts Manchester City to Carabao Cup glory
Manchester City beat Premier League title rival Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final, with Nico O'Reilly scoring twice to capture the trophy.
Nico O'Reilly scored twice as Manchester City beat Premier League title rival Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
The first-ever Carabao Cup final to feature the teams in first and second in the top-flight table was a slow burner, with the first half featuring just three shots on target – all from Arsenal.
But the Gunners capitulated around the hour mark, with a huge error from cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga allowing O'Reilly – who celebrated his 21st birthday on Sunday – to score the first of two headed goals in four minutes.
City was relatively comfortable from then on as Pep Guardiola became the first-ever manager to lift the Carabao Cup on five occasions, while Mikel Arteta's wait for a first major trophy win since the 2020 FA Cup goes on.
Arsenal started on the front foot, but James Trafford – selected ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma after starting all of City's games en route to the final – made a triple save to keep out Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka in the seventh minute.
A superb cross from Antoine Semenyo proved just too high for Erling Haaland as City started to find its feet, though Nathan Ake had to make a good recovery challenge after almost allowing Arsenal in at the other end.
City did not register a shot on target in the first half, though it might have gone ahead when Haaland nodded over from close range in the 45th minute, after more excellent work from Semenyo on the right flank.
A misjudgement from Kepa almost allowed Jeremy Doku in at the start of the second half, then another huge error from the Spaniard – who spilled Rayan Cherki's cross on the hour – allowed O'Reilly to nod home from almost directly beneath the crossbar.
O'Reilly had another headed goal shortly afterwards, redirecting a hanging cross from Matheus Nunes back across Kepa and into the top-right corner.
Arsenal struck the woodwork twice at 2-0 down, with Riccardo Calafiori's drive clipping the far post and Gabriel Jesus's header bouncing off the top of the crossbar, but City held on for victory.
