Football League Cup final: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
EFL Cup: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Manchester City won the Carabao Cup for the third time in five years on Sunday. And manager Pep Guardiola won his first trophy for Manchester City as his side easily won the Carabao Cup 3-0 before a sold-out crowd at Wembley. A treble is still on for Man City who are doing an excellent job in the Champions League and sit in first place, well ahead on top of the England Premier League table going into another EPL clash with Arsenal coming up on Thursday, March 1st. Argentinian Sergio "Kun" Aguero can potentially reach 200 goals for Man City on Thursday at Arsenal and has more than proved his worth in his seven years playing for the club. City look fully capable of steamrollering every Premier League and Champions League opponent in their way in the United Kingdom and all of Europe. City hold a commanding lead over Basel from their away leg in the round of 16, and will likely go through to the last eight. Popular Kevin De Bruyne is key to winning a treble for Man City this season along with Aguero, Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling. Pep Guardiola believes that Manchester City's 3-0 Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal at Wembley will inspire his side's push for a treble of trophies this season.The manager said the victory, secured with goals from Sergio Agüero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva, represented payback for the club's owners for the support they gave to him last season. Guardiola will now push to add the Premier League title and the Champions League trophy to his titan club's haul this season. Guardiola's team are 13 points clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand over second-placed Manchester United while they are 4-0 up from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Basel. City fans will not want to miss a single match this spring. Great legal last-minute Arsenal v Manchester City tickets are still available now online from 1st4FootbalTickets.com for Thursday's clash!
2018 EFL Cup
Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Manchester City goals: Sergio Aguero 18, Vincent Kompany 58, David Silva 65
Sergio Agüero is closing in on a third title in Manchester City colors after scoring his 199th goal for his team as a key player in City defeating Arsenal on a crisp day at Wembley Stadium to win the Carabao cup 3-0 in London on Sunday. City's other goals were scored by Vincent Kompany and David Silva in their 2018 League Cup victory against the Gunners to give manager Pep Guardiola his first silverware as boss. Despite being charged by the FA on Friday, Pep Guardiola again wore his yellow ribbon in support of those who have suffered human rights violations in Abu Dhabi. City took the lead in the first half through Kun Aguero, whose 18th-minute goal was almost looked easy. City's possession was reportedly below 65 percent, however, they opened the match scoring and kept their lead throughout the game after Claudio Bravo's dramatic double save in the eighth minute. The goal came from a huge kick forward by Bravo. Mustafi was in a bad position, the wrong side of Aguero, and the ball sailed over his head. Aguero moved the ball forward and lobbed Ospina easily from the edge of the box. "Before the game I thought I would score. I'm training well, I'm supporting the lads when I don't play, and when I do play I give everything I have. I'm really proud of the team. It's worth every minute of hard work recovering from injury for days like this," said Vincent Kompany.
City started the second half superbly and Kompany won the corner on the right and then scored from it. De Bruyne cut the corner back sharply to Gundogan on the edge of the box and sent a low first-time shot towards goal and Kompany stretched to divert it past Ospina. A delighted Kompany celebrated his personal victory. David Silva doubled the lead with a beautiful goal, sending an excellent low shot past Ospina from Danilo's through pass. Silva's first touch was perfect, setting him up to belt it across Ospina with his second. Arsenal played well but looked uninspired. The Gunners needed to get Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey in the game to have a chance. Arsenal's last League Cup win was in 1993, when Paul Merson inspired them a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Squads
Calum Chambers started for the Gunners, who started with a back three. City's Raheem Sterling was out through injury, and Gabriel Jesus returned to the bench.
Arsenal
Ospina; Chambers, Mustafi, Koscielny; Bellerin, Wilshere, Xhaka, Monreal; Ozil, Ramsey; Aubameyang. Subs: Cech, Kolasinac, Mertesacker, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Welbeck.
Manchester City
Bravo; Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Danilo; Fernandinho; Gundogan, D Silva; De Bruyne, Aguero, Sane. Subs: Ederson, Stones, Laporte, B Silva, Zinchenko, Foden, Jesus.
Referee Craig Pawson
Guardiola was defiant against the Football Association, in the wake of his charge for wearing a yellow ribbon in support of imprisoned Catalan politicians. Guardiola wore the ribbon during the League Cup Final at Wembley and said that, even if he was banned from the touchline by the FA. The FA charged Pep Guardiola over Catalonia yellow ribbon. "They know I will wear it always. I can wear it somewhere else. Uefa have another opinion. They say you can wear it as long as it's with respect. Here in England it's different apparently. I have empathy for the people who have no freedom, those guys in Spain who are in jail. They haven't been proven guilty. Anyone can be in that situation. Before being a football manager I am a human being and this is for humanity. There are four guys in prison and other guys, they don't have weapons, just votes in the ballot. I said this is always with me and it always will be until the last. I will accept whatever they the FA decide about my behavior. It's not a lack of respect, it's being part of humanity."
On a happier note, Pep celebrated the first silverware of his Man City job. "Winning titles helps you to win more, that's true," Guardiola said. "My players know we will not go far in the Champions League if we play like we did in the first half here. But we showed who we are in the second half. We played really well from the first action. Big congratulations to everyone at City - from Sheikh Mansour, Khaldoon al-Mubarak to everybody else. I can't forget how they took care of me last season when it wasn't so good. I will always remember how everyone at the club, like Khaldoon, supported me." Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger missed an early chance, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appeared to be offside, The Gunners boss regrets dismal defending on the opening goal from Shkodran Mustafi and the lack of an offside call on City's second, when Leroy Sané appeared to be in David Ospina's line of vision. "A little bit of everything went against us," Wenger said. "We self-inflicted our punishment. The second goal is offside. It's a mystery how it cannot be given." Buy the very best Manchester City tickets and Arsenal tickets now online from 1st4FootballTickets.com!
