London [UK], March 23 : Manchester City ended Arsenal's dream of a historic quadruple as a brace from Nico O'Reilly helped them secure a 2-0 win in the final of the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium, lifting the title for the ninth time.
Arsenal, who had dreams to lift a quadruple of titles this season with the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and the Premier League, will now be aiming to complete a treble of premiership, a cup competition and the most prestigious title in European football as two second half goals from Nico helped Man City to their 19th title under manager Pep Guardiola.
The full-back delivered two powerful headers in the space of four minutes in the 60th and 64th minutes to guide Man City to a record fifth Carabao Cup trophy under Guardiola.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, selected ahead of the first-choice goalkeeper David Raya, was a big culprit in the title loss as he let a right-wing cross from Rayan Cherki squirt through his hands, and Nico wasted no time in putting the ball inside an open goal at the far post.
Arsenal were delivered a double whammy just four minutes later as another cross from Matheus Nunes was guided into the goal by Nico to double Man City's lead, and the scoreline was left undisturbed till the end. Though Arsenal had attempts through Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus, they ended up hitting the woodwork.
Speaking during the post-match presser, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said, as quoted by Sky Sports, "I am very sad. It is a hard one to take. We know how much it means and how much we wanted it. The fact that we have not managed to deliver that is disappointing and leaves a bad taste."
On the decision to start with Kepa, he said, "I have to do what I think is right, which is honest and fair."
"Kepa is an outstanding 'keeper, and it would have been very unfair on him to do something different. I can never promise a player to play certain competitions. They have to earn it and do enough."
"We are guided by what we see. What he is done in the competition, and how he helped us to get us to the final, I believe it was the right thing to do. Errors are part of football, and unfortunately, it happened in a crucial moment."
Also, Man City boss Guardiola said during the presser after the match, "What can I say? Always, when you win a trophy, it is important. But this was special because we've had a tough two weeks, and especially because of the opponent."
"The first 15 minutes they suffocated us. We could not breathe. After that, we started to play, especially Jeremy [Doku] and Rayan [Cherki]. I am really pleased, but Mikel has created a team that is almost unbeatable."
"When you start to win, and the players are young, you can continue that. I need to know them first. I need to know how they react in certain situations. I think we will be able to learn from this as a team and hopefully next season we can do better," he concluded.