O'Reilly the hero as Manchester City see off Arsenal to lift EFL Cup

[p]Contesting their first Carabao Cup final in eight years, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] came flying out of the blocks early on, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/havertz-kai/rH8BZWiI/"]Kai Havertz[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saka-bukayo/08NLEo06/"]Bukayo Saka[/a] denied by a superb triple save from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trafford-james/ET616yZQ/"]James Trafford[/a].[/p][p]Grateful for that reprieve, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]City[/a] gradually grew into the match, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/semenyo-antoine/r1Gz1yPk/"]Antoine Semenyo[/a] breezed his way past Piero Hincapie, only for the Ghanaian’s inviting delivery to be marginally too high for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] in the box.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guardiola-pep/hxNijWrJ/"]Pep Guardiola[/a]’s men continued to see plenty of the ball as the first half progressed, but clear-cut chances came at a premium as the Arsenal defence remained typically resolute.[/p][p]The Cityzens did manage to carve out one opening shortly before the break though, as Haaland directed a close-range header off target after more good work from the lively Semenyo.[/p][image alt="Arsenal - Manchester City stats" id="2ecf6c30-d743-4112-8983-9de10ca03752" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="b9b62a14-1f40-45eb-9785-c161a8f2dd78" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]City carried their growing momentum into the early stages of the second period, and their pressure nearly paid dividends when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doku-jeremy/lMHcYK4f/"]Jeremy Doku[/a] dispossessed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arrizabalaga-kepa/Yq2dyUwN/"]Kepa Arrizabalaga[/a], only for the Gunners goalkeeper to cynically pull back the Belgian and receive a yellow card.[/p][p]The one-way traffic showed no signs of slowing down, and Guardiola’s side deservedly took the lead on the hour mark, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cherki-mathis/vm0eu2V3/"]Rayan Cherki[/a]’s cross squirmed through the grasp of Kepa, allowing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-reilly-nico/xOrYaNWc/"]O’Reilly[/a] to nod into an empty net from inside the six-yard box.[/p][embed guid="ebcbf79b-40c0-4689-8e46-c198741e12f0" url="https://x.com/Carabao_Cup/status/2035789125501010311" social-type="twitter" /][p]Having finally translated their dominance onto the scoreboard, City doubled their lead just four minutes later, with man-of-the-moment O’Reilly getting in front of Saka at the back post to brilliantly head home from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matheus-nunes/KC5IHolc/"]Matheus Nunes[/a]’ cross.[/p][p]Desperate for a quick response, Mikel Arteta introduced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/madueke-chukwunonso/Ac57P9Pt/"]Noni Madueke[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calafiori-riccardo/CEwq7x7l/"]Riccardo Calafiori[/a] from the bench, and the latter nearly had an immediate impact, driving a low effort against the outside of the post.[/p][p]The Gunners continued to search for a route back into the match, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gabriel/tEcnVXMS/"]Gabriel[/a]’s header looped agonisingly against the bar, as City held firm during the closing stages to see out the victory and claim a ninth Carabao Cup crown.[/p][p]The victory gives Guardiola his 19th trophy in charge of the Cityzens, while Arsenal’s wait for a first piece of silverware since 2020 goes on, leaving their hopes of a historic quadruple in tatters.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-reilly-nico/xOrYaNWc/"]Nico O’Reilly[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a])[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/manchester-city-Wtn9Stg0/?mid=rJ3qBSJD"]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/p]