Man City beats Aston Villa, wins 3rd straight League Cup

LONDON » Manchester City won the League Cup for a third consecutive season by beating Aston Villa 2-1 on Sunday, providing the club with a moment of celebration as it fights to protect its reputation off the field.

City looked to be cruising to victory when Sergio Agüero and Rodri scored in the opening 30 minutes at Wembley Stadium but the holders had to fend off a Villa fightback.

“It’s the consistency, incredible,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “It was awesome.”

Mbwana Samatta pulled one back with a header before halftime to ensure it was a more competitive final than anticipated between a team fighting relegation from the Premier League and the most expensively assembled squad in football history.

“The performance was OK, the game plan was solid,” Villa manager Dean Smith said. “Unfortunately, you’ve got a mountain to climb against a team like Manchester City and the quality that they have when they go two goals up.”

The holders’ squad depth was clear in their ability to only deploy one of the game’s most influential players, Kevin De Bruyne, from the bench in the second half among eight changes from the side that beat Real Madrid in the Champions League midweek.

The playmaker helped City see out the game and give Guardiola his sixth major trophy in his fourth season in charge.

It is a season where the Premier League trophy is almost certainly going to be surrendered to Liverpool, which has a 22-point lead over second-place City. But a first Champions League title for City remains a possibility just as the club fights a twoseason ban from European competitions for breaches of UEFA financial regulations.

“The most beautiful one is the Premier League and we’re not going to win (it),” Guardiola said. “So, to be better than last season, I don’t think it’s going to happen . ... I don’t think we were enough consistent, compared to the previous seasons.”

Thanks to lavish spending on players, City has become so accustomed to reaching finals in the 12 years under Abu Dhabi ownership that its Wembley allocation wasn’t sold out.

It was a painful start for the Villa fans in the crowd of 82,149 at the club’s first final in a decade since being denied the League Cup by Manchester United.

Few players like taking on Villa more than Agüero. It took 20 minutes for the striker to grab his 10th goal in his last six starts against the Birmingham club. Rodri’s cross was headed into Agüero’s path by Phil Foden and the Argentine struck into the net.

City benefited from good fortune and VAR not being used to check on corners to double its lead. The ball came off Ilkay Gundogan before going over the line but City was given the corner which the German swung in for Rodri to head in.