Pep Guardiola is as fired up as ever after Manchester City’s League Cup triumph. But how big is the damage for Arsenal?
If it had been the FA Cup final and not the League Cup final, Pep Guardiola would not have been there. The showdown against Arsenal FC on Sunday ultimately coincided with a two-match ban for Manchester City’s coach, which he picked up in the Premier League for his sixth yellow card of the season.
But because this only affects the league and the FA Cup, Guardiola was able to experience his team’s title-winning performance at Wembley up close – and pick up another caution.
When match-winner Nico O’Reilly headed in for the second time in four minutes, Guardiola ran along the line cheering and dancing as if he had to prove to everyone who had been speculating for months about his early departure in the summer that he was still on fire. Or was there something completely different behind it?
“I wanted another yellow card, that was the goal,” said Guardiola, explaining his illegal celebration, which was perfectly in keeping with everything else the exhilarated Catalan said after the 2-0 triumph. “If I can’t celebrate the way we play against this team, when can I? Give me another yellow card, I’m not artificial intelligence yet. I’m a human being and I want to celebrate. That’s no disrespect to Arsenal, I’m just celebrating with my people.”
In fact, ManCity had made a statement that was hardly thought possible after the recent setbacks in the league and the sobering 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16. “Not even I would have put a pound on this win today,” Guardiola claimed afterwards. But then “I could hardly believe how incredibly well we played in the second half”.
This is the fifth time ManCity have lifted the League Cup under Guardiola, which is an average of every two years. “The Carabao Cup is not the Champions or the Premier League, but a win against this team makes the title something special,” said Guardiola, who particularly praised O’Reilly: “He is perhaps our best transfer of the season.” The 21-year-old home-grown talent, who was successfully converted to left-back by the coach on Saturday, signed a new five-year contract in September.
Arteta sees the “most fantastic two months” coming “that we’ve ever had together”
Guardiola did not want to assess the impact of the win on the Premier League title race, in which ManCity would have to catch up with Arsenal by nine points with one game less. However, the pressure on the Gunners to actually win the championship has certainly not diminished since Sunday. Psychologically, Man City have the advantage for now, while Mikel Arteta is in need of an explanation.
His decision to rely on cup keeper Kepa in the final proved to be fatal – unlike at James Trafford on the other side. The still most expensive goalkeeper in the world made a serious mistake before the 0:1 and wobbled time and again. “It would have been very, very unfair to him” not to field him, Arteta defended himself and instead prepared his team for the final spurt: “We will use this disappointment to experience the most fantastic two months we have ever had together.”
