City of joy
> Man hammer Arsenal to win first trophy of Pep’s era
MANCHESTER CITY rolled back the years on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Pep Guardiola era with three of their veteran players scoring in an emphatic 3-0 win against Arsenal at Wembley.
Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva were all on the scoresheet as City lifted the League Cup for the fifth time – only Liverpool have won it more.
It was an stirring response from the Premier League leaders after their bid for a historic quadruple came to an end with a shock FA Cup defeat to League One Wigan on Monday.
“It’s important,” said Guardiola. “We’re so happy, and a big congratulations to all of Manchester City, and our fans. This trophy is for Manchester City and not for me.
“The first half we were not good, there were a lot of mistakes. In the second half we played with a lot more courage and personality – we were outstanding.”
City’s first goal, in the first half, came in unlikely circumstances for a side lauded for their slick passing style.
A long punt upfield from goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was controlled by Sergio Aguero, who coolly lifted the ball over a helpless David Ospina in the Arsenal goal.
Captain Kompany doubled the lead in the second half with just over half an hour to go and Silva put the game out of the reach of Arsene Wenger’s team.
The runaway Premier League leaders will be hoping to use the victory as a springboard to greater glory as the season approaches its final stretch but defeat for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger means he has never lifted the League Cup.
Wenger rued his team’s defensive errors after yesterday’s defeat but he also said the video replay system should have ruled one of the goals out.
The north London club have now lost a record six League Cup finals – three under Wenger.
“We self-inflicted our punishment”, the Frenchman told a post-match conference.
“You can never say you’re not disappointed when you concede goals the way we conceded goals. But you take the good and the bad when you’re the manager and that’s part of the game.”
Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Teddy Sheringham told the BBC: “If Arsenal were going to have a chance today they all needed to be 9-out-of-10s, and I don’t think any of Arsenal’s players were more than a 5-out-of10 today – no-one performed.
“Arsenal’s fans will be more disappointed with the performance than the result,” he said.
Wenger said Kompany’s goal in the second half should have been ruled offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), being used for the first time in a Cup final in England.
“The second goal is offside. I don’t know, we accepted the VAR, I just watched it again. It’s a mystery for me how you can watch that on replay and not give offside,” said the Frenchman.
Arsenal are sixth in the Premier League standings, 10 points behind the top four Champions League qualifying places, meaning their most likely way into Europe’s elite club competition next season is by winning the Europa League.
But Wenger insisted the focus would be on their next Premier League fixture rather than their last-16 tie against European heavyweights AC Milan in the continent’s second-tier event.
“We have to prioritise the next game first before we concentrate on the Europa League,” he said.
Arsenal’s next fixture is at The Emirates on Thursday against runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City, who are 27 points above them and already heading for the title.
“They will be on a high, and we have to recover from the disappointment,” Wenger said. “On that front, they have the advantage.” – AFP/Reuters