A delighted Pep Guardiola admitted disbelief at Manchester City’s second-half dismantling of Arsenal in which Nico O’Reilly’s double claimed the Carabao Cup at Wembley.
With Sunday’s’s final goalless at half-time, O’Reilly’s headers in the 60th and 64th minutes gave City the season’s first trophy, a fifth League Cup of Guardiola’s tenure and the 16th major honour overall of his decade in charge.
The manager said: “Not even me gave one pound to the victory today. We could not win against Nottingham Forest home or West Ham away [in the Premier League], we lost 5-1 aggregate against Madrid [in the Champions League last 16]. But the players prove again – the old ones and especially the new ones – that when required to do something during a season in which we have not been consistent, today we achieved it.
“Especially without the ball and with the ball in the second half, was unbelievably good. I could not believe how unbelievably good we had done in the second half. It’s really important for the club as well, not just the young guys. James [Trafford, the goalkeeper] saved us in the first minutes. Everybody made a contribution – Max Alleyne [City’s young defender] played at Newcastle in the semi-final with a lot of injuries. These competitions we need everybody involved.
“Today I made one substitution, yes [with Phil Foden coming on], and it is never over at 2-0 but I felt the team was there. Jérémy [Doku] kept the ball, Antoine [Semenyo] as well and Bernardo [Silva] and Rodri. I think what I said in the previous days: the team has been something underneath [the very best] but I can smell that they can flourish and winning helps to anticipate the process a little bit.
“They suffocated us in the first 15 minutes but after that we started to win second balls. The Carabao Cup is not the Champions League or the Premier League but winning against that team makes the title special. A fifth Carabao Cup in 10 years is not bad. Every time you win a title it looks more difficult than in the past. It is really difficult for many reasons.”
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Guardiola celebrated O’Reilly’s second goal by sprinting down the touchline. This came after he was booked when celebrating the opener.
“I wanted another yellow card, that was the target,” Guardiola said. “If I cannot celebrate against that team with the way we are playing, then when? Emotions are related to the way we are playing. Give me another yellow card, I’m not yet artificial intelligence. I’m a human being and I want to celebrate. It’s not no respect for Arsenal, I just celebrate with my people. I’m a human being with emotions and I express it.”
Guardiola hailed O’Reilly’s contribution. “Maybe he was the signing of the season [the defender agreed a new deal in September]. When we started the season we had a long conversation with him. He started to play at left-back and impressed a lot. He can play in many roles. He scored two fantastic goals.”
Guardiola shrugged off the question of whether the victory would affect the title race. City are nine points behind Arsenal, with a game in hand, and host Mikel Arteta’s team next month. “I would like to be nine points ahead,” he said.
O’Reilly, who turned 21 on Saturday, said: “An amazing day. We came out to the second half on top and dominated. We are going to celebrate today and then international break.”
Meanwhile, Arteta defended his selection of Kepa Arrizabalaga despite his second-choice goalkeeper dropping the ball to allow O’Reilly’s opening goal.
“I have to do what I feel is right, honest and fair and he’s played all the competition and it would have been very, very unfair for him to do something different,” Arsenal’s manager said. “We’re going to use this disappointment and this fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months that we have ever had together.”
Eberechi Eze was unavailable with a calf problem so has withdrawn from the England squad.