City clinch place at Wembley

CARABAO CUP: Championship side's run ended to set up Guardiola's first English final

BRISTOL CITY 2 MANCHESTER CITY 3 AGGREGATE 3-5

Manchester City kept alive their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple by reaching the Carabao Cup final with a 3-2 win at Bristol City last night.

Goals from Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne secured a 5-3 aggregate triumph and manager Pep Guardiola’s first cup final in English football.

Marlon Pack’s 64th-minute header and a close-range strike from Aden Flint in stoppage looked like giving Bristol City a draw on the night, but De Bruyne scored with the final kick of the match.

Bristol City, in their first semi-final of a major cup competition for nearly 30 years, had retained hope of causing an upset after losing the first leg at the Etihad Stadium 2-1.

There was an electric atmosphere inside Ashton Gate at kick-off with more than 22,000 flags handed out to home supporters.

But this was a bridge too far for the Sky Bet Championship hosts who had already eliminated four Premier League sides from the competition, most notably Manchester United in the quarter-final.

Guardiola played down that he could win his first cup final at the club, and said: “It’s not for me, no, it’s for Manchester City.

“The club is trying to reach another level that wasn’t in the past with (Roberto) Mancini, with (Manuel) Pellegrini they achieve that and we try to keep going in that level.

“We are so happy. We played an amazing game.”

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson hailed the Premier League side and admitted they were just too good.

“We came close to a draw today. They are a top, top side, probably the best side I’ve seen live,” the 36-year-old said.

“They have so many players that are intricate and have class on the ball and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say ‘they are a better side than us’.

“But the spirit we showed, we never gave in and we continued to try and attack and scored two goals and not many teams can score two goals against a side like that.

“It’s a good lesson for the boys and I think we’ll take that into the Championship.”

Picture: Getty Images. Kevin De Bruyne celebrates with Bernardo Silva after finally killing off Bristol City’s hopes with the visitors’ third goal on the night.