Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

by Layth Yousif 

at Wembley Stadium

NICO O’Reilly may have turned 21 on Saturday but, just like his proud tattoo of his city’s dialling code inked onto his body, Sunday’s date will be forever etched into his memory.

Pep Guardiola’s streetwise Manchester City not so much mugged an utterly underwhelming Arsenal side as mauled them, with two goals in four second-half minutes by the talented O’Reilly that stunned Mikel Arteta’s uninspired Gunners team, to secure the 2026 League Cup in front of 88,486 at Wembley Stadium.

A dreadful handling error by Kepa — who was preferred by Mikel Arteta to No1 choice David Raya for the showpiece final — saw O’Reilly capitalise to open the scoring on the hour mark.

Worse was to come for Arteta’s dreadfully disappointing team, whose dreams of an unprecedented quadruple crumbled in the national stadium, when O’Reilly grabbed a second four minutes later to make it 2-0 to City, as Guardiola won his fifth League Cup in a decade, and the club’s ninth overall.

“Unbelievable feeling,” the understandably delighted young working-class north Manchester-born hero exclaimed after the match. He added: “To win a final, to beat this team. We know how good they are. We need to build on it, it will give us good momentum. Buzzing with today.”

For Guardiola it was the 19th trophy of his silverware-laden City reign, as his side deservedly lifted the cup in front of their delighted blue and white flag-waving supporters, massed at the end where both goals were scored.

Guardiola said of O’Reilly’s impact: “He has been so surprising so far even for me, the season he has done so far has been extraordinary.”

However, for those of a red and white persuasion, Kepa’s mistake will go down in Arsenal history alongside Gus Caesar’s infamous error that handed Luton the 1988 version of this trophy, as the north Londoners yet again fell short at the final hurdle against City.

When asked if he regretted starting Kepa, Arteta said after the match: “I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season, the fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today.

“It would have been very unfair to choose a different one.”

He added: “I would do it again. He [Kepa] deserved to play this game and has been phenomenal for us.

“Errors are part of football, anyone can make them.”

Perhaps Arteta was lulled into a false sense of security after his side had been unbeaten in their last six matches against City before kick-off, as, fatefully, Kepa started the match as expected, with Kai Havertz also in the starting XI after Eberechi Eze did not make the squad through injury.

Bukayo Saka captained the Gunners, with Martin Odegaard again missing. Jurrien Timber was also out, so Ben White started at right-back. Piero Hincapie was selected ahead of Riccardo Calafiori at left-back, with Arsenal teen prodigy Max Dowman among the substitutes.

As Guardiola insisted beforehand, James Trafford started in goal, with Gianluigi Donnarumma on the bench. Ruben Dias missed out for Manchester City, meaning Nathan Ake was drafted into the backline to link up with Abdukodir Khusanov at the heart of their defence.

January arrival Antoine Semenyo replaced Tijjani Reijnders, who dropped to the bench. But former Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi was deemed to be cup tied.

In total, Guardiola made four changes to the side that was knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid in midweek.

Amid a raucous atmosphere generated by both sets of fans in the early stages, Arsenal got behind the City backline in the seventh minute, only for Trafford to block superbly well from Havertz, prior to showing excellent reactions to foil Saka, after the Gunners captain saw his initial effort also denied by Guardiola’s side.

Alas, that was to be the high tide mark of the Gunners attacking ambitions, as Viktor Gyokeres was once again wretchedly infective, even against City’s unfamiliar centre-back pairing of O’Reilly and Nathan Ake that had only played together four times this term.

Speaking after the victory, Guardiola reflected, saying: “In the first 15 minutes they suffocated us, we could not breathe. After that we won some second balls and started to play. I’m really pleased because Mikel created a team that is almost unbeatable.

“A fifth Carabao Cup in 10 years is not bad. Every time you win a title it looks more difficult than in the past. It is really difficult for many reasons.”

In a feisty opening Hincapie was booked for a late challenge on Matheus Nunes, while following half an hour of relentless battle in a match that was absorbing if not exciting, Khusanov was booked for clattering Gyokeres on 32 minutes.

As both teams vied for supremacy, Hincapie headed over the bar from a Saka corner eight minutes before the interval.

As the clocked ticked down towards the break, Semenyo crossed for the largely anonymous, albeit rumbustious and hard-working, Erling Haaland, whose header flew over the bar, as the sides went into half time goalless, in an opening 45 minutes that had the fewest shots in a League Cup final since 2019.

The match sparked into life moments after the restart when Jeremy Doku tangled with an onrushing Kepa, following a long ball from Nunes, that saw referee Peter Bankes, award a yellow card to the Gunners keeper after the tussle that took place marginally outside the box. While the City attacker wastefully lifted the dead ball over the bar from the resulting free-kick, Guardiola’s side were on the charge.

Following a spell of City dominance that pinned the Gunners deeper and deeper into their own third, Antoine Semenyo fired wide on 56 minutes. Moments later Gabriel blocked from captain Bernardo Silva, as Guardiola’s side hunted an opener, roared on by their blue support behind the goal.

The dominance was eventually to tell on the hour mark.

An awful handling error by Kepa from Rayan Cherki’s routine cross saw O’Reilly capitalise by summing ferocious determination to beat Zubimendi to head the ball into the net, as the blue hordes massed behind the goal erupted in joy.

With the noise from the City support barely dimmed, up popped Collyhurst’s unlikely hero O’Reilly to double the City lead a mere four minutes later, when heading home Nunes’s cross to make it 2-0 on 64 minutes, that saw Guardiola sprint down the touchline in joyous celebration.

Stung, Arsenal boss made a total of five changes in the aftermath of O’Reilly’s brace. Substitute Calafiori fired wide, while Jesus hit the bar late on from fellow replacement Noni Madueke, as the Gunners desperately attempted to gain a foothold in the match.

However, Guardiola’s City held on to deservedly win the first silverware of the domestic season, to deny Arteta, and Arsenal, once again.

With all eyes on the race for the title between these two clubs after the forthcoming international break, Guardiola said: “I would love to be nine points in front to be honest. It’s in their [Arsenal’s] hands. We need time, an incredible break.

“I am exhausted, and after we see, step by step.”

In what will now always be labelled “O’Reilly’s Final,” City’s academy graduate graciously acknowledged his family who were at Wembley supporting him, saying: “My whole family came down today. They are all in the stand and I know they will be buzzing. I can’t wait to celebrate with them.”

After a memorable few days, O’Reilly added: “Bit of disbelief seeing all the fans cheering like that when I scored those goals. Really a good feeling and a great birthday weekend.”

With England boss Thomas Tuchel duly watching on from the stands, given his outstanding level of performance by the twice capped O’Reilly, perhaps the young defender who came of age at Wembley could also be celebrating a ticket to this summer’s World Cup come the end of the season.

As for Arteta’s Arsenal, the 33-year wait continues for a third League Cup in the club’s history, as does the hunt for a first piece of silverware in six years, after the Basque-born boss’s first Wembley defeat in nine appearances as a player or manager.

There are three trophies still to play for — even if, with the injured Eze pulling out of the Three Lions squad, William Saliba withdrawing from the French camp, and still no sign of club captain Martin Odegaard — fears need to be quelled after the international break that the “Quadruple” could now mean failing four seasons in a row.