There was a time when the old trophy with the three handles felt like the personal property of Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City manager won the League Cup for the first time in 2018, beating Arsenal in the final, and he repeated the trick in each of the next three seasons.
The ensuing years have been less kind to Guardiola and the club in the competition but here was the riposte. On so many levels. City had entered this final as the underdogs; an unusual position but a reflection of how Arsenal have been the pre-eminent team in England and Europe so far this season.
It was a day when City reasserted themselves, showing all of the old knowhow and collective ability; that quintessential calm and cohesion on the ball. And Arsenal simply wilted. Guardiola got the balance of his lineup absolutely right and, after City had shaded a cagey first half, they cut loose.
It is not every season that a left-back is the goalscoring hero of a cup final but that was how it played out, Nico O’Reilly enjoying the finest day of his young career, one he will cherish for ever. O’Reilly scored with a pair of headers, the first after a horrible handling error from the Arsenal reserve goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, whose misery in Wembley cup finals continued. And, thereafter, it was just a countdown to the 16th major trophy of Guardiola’s City tenure – excluding Community Shields.
Arsenal were unbeaten in the previous six meetings against City going back to the 2023 Community Shield, which they won on penalties. Does that count as a trophy for Mikel Arteta? Yes and no, with the emphasis on the latter. It was Arteta’s 2020 FA Cup final victory over Chelsea that was the reference point, framing so much from an Arsenal point of view. It remains his only piece of major silverware.
This was only Arteta’s second cup final as a manager – “Wembley Again Olé, Olé” read the banner in the City end before kick-off – and it was a day when nothing went to plan for him. He was without the injured Eberechi Eze, whose creativity was missed, but that did not explain the creative bankruptcy of the performance or the overall meekness.
Arsenal failed to show and the question in the coming days will concern the impact on their confidence in the Premier League title race, whether they can see it through from their position at the summit. City, chasing hard in second place, will scent blood, particularly as they still have Arsenal to play at home on 19 April. Arsenal’s dream of the quadruple is over but more worrying will be the inevitable questions about their trophy-winning abilities.
Arsenal created a big chance in the seventh minute when Martín Zubimendi sent Kai Havertz through for a one-on-one against James Trafford to the right of goal. It was a lovely ball and a smart piece of movement by Havertz from the No 10 role. He could not finish, Trafford getting out quickly to block. Bukayo Saka had two bites at the rebound. Trafford blocked again and again.
If that gets a prominent mention it was because it stood in glorious isolation for Arsenal. They could get precious little going as an attacking force until it was too late. City played on the front foot and they hogged the ball. As the minutes ticked by so they tightened their grip.
There was a revealing moment early in the second half when Arrizabalaga had the ball at his feet, everybody set in front of him in both red and sky blue. The goalkeeper waited and he waited some more. Nobody moved. Nothing happened. Then Arrizabalaga picked up the ball and tried another way. Arsenal struggled sorely with their buildup play. They could not get out.
There was also the episode shortly afterwards when Matheus Nunes played a long diagonal for Jérémy Doku and Arrizabalaga left his area. Doku wriggled around him and the goalkeeper was forced to foul him. It was yellow for him rather red because Arsenal had covering defenders but it was another turn of the wheel. City sensed the day belonged to them.
The breakthrough goal had been advertised and it came when Rayan Cherki crossed from the right and Arrizabalaga got his hands into a muddle, fumbling the ball which dropped down. O’Reilly got to it on the bounce before Piero Hincapié.
Guardiola booted an advertising board in delight and his celebrations would be even wilder when O’Reilly scored again, arriving on the far side to guide home from Nunes’s delivery. Guardiola set off on a run up the touchline. Arsenal were beaten. Riccardo Calafiori, on as a substitute, headed straight at Trafford and also hit the outside of the post with a low shot. The outlandish comeback was never on.
