In the final of the League Cup, Manchester City set an important marker ahead of the final spurt in the league and beat Arsenal FC 2-0 thanks to a double strike.
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta made two changes after the 2-0 win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Havertz started for Eze, who was missing with a lower leg injury. As expected, cup keeper Kepa replaced Raya in goal.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola also practised the same goalkeeping model and gave Trafford the nod between the posts instead of Donnarumma after the 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid. In addition, Ruben Dias (thigh injury), Ait Nouri and Reijnders (both bench) were replaced by O’Reilly, Aké and Semenyo.
Havertz and Haaland with the best chances
Although City had more possession at the start, Arsenal were the more dangerous team: after a fine combination against the Sky Blues’ pressing, Havertz and Saka had the first good double chance (7′). The Gunners repeatedly tried their luck with quick vertical play against Guardiola’s high-sided team, but there were no further chances for either side.
Semenyo repeatedly got into the penalty area against Hincapie, but usually got caught out. At the other end, Aké made a strong save from Gyökeres (34′). Shortly before the break, Haaland had the best opportunity for Manchester, again after an assist from Semenyo, but his header went over the goal (45′).
Kepa misses – O’Reilly with the double strike
At the start of the second half, Arsenal had to overcome a moment of shock when a long ball was played to Doku: Kepa misjudged his run, but then brought the Belgian down with a tactical foul (48′) and the resulting free-kick came to nothing. Nevertheless, City were now the better team and let the ball and opponent run.
Another mistake by Kepa then led to the Citizens taking the lead: The Spaniard let a cross from Cherki slip through his hands and O’Reilly thanked him with his head (60′). Shortly afterwards, the advanced left-back struck the double against a paralysed Gunners: Matheus Nunes crossed from the baseline to the five-yard box, where the youngster was lurking and struck again with his head (64′).
Arsenal hit aluminum twice
Arsenal lacked ideas after that, however: Substitute Calafiori at least had a chance with a header (74′), shortly afterwards a drop-kick from the Italian touched the post (78′). Joker Gabriel Jesus also hit the aluminum again with a header that Trafford could only watch (88′). However, Arsenal were unable to add to their tally, meaning City celebrated their fifth League Cup win under coach Guardiola and also sent out an important signal ahead of the final spurt in the league.
Both teams continue their FA Cup quarter-final campaign the weekend after next: Arsenal play Southampton on Saturday (4.4.2026, 9pm), while Manchester City face Liverpool a few hours earlier (1.45pm).