Published: March 23, 2026 at 9:18 am
Nico O’Reilly was the hero on Sunday as he stamped his name in Manchester City folklore with two Wembley goals that secured a League Cup Final win over Arsenal.
In what was the first ever League Cup final between the top two sides in the country, the Blues were more than a match for the current Premier League leaders every step of the way in and out of possession.
O’Reilly, the day after his 21st birthday, struck with two headers in four second-half minutes to secure City’s ninth League Cup title and Pep Guardiola’s fifth as boss. It means yet more history for Pep Guardiola, who has now claimed 19 major honours as City boss and becomes the first manager to win this competition five times.
City’s tally of nine triumphs in the League Cup is second only to Liverpool on 10. And with the Premier League and FA Cup still to play for in the 2025-26 season, Guardiola will be hoping the performance acts as a catalyst for the final two months of the campaign.
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The first was a gift from Gunners’ keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, fumbling a cross for the City Academy product to nod in, and the second was a well-placed header into the bottom corner.
The strikes put City’s name back on a trophy they have had a stranglehold of in recent years, winning it four times back-to-back between 2018 and 2021 and having prevailed in nine of the last 14 finals.
This was the first time a League Cup Final had been contested by the current top two in England’s top flight and Arsenal, who sit nine points above their opponents in the Premier League title race, actually settled into proceedings quickest, looking to turn around the City defence as often as possible.
Nico O’Reilly, the day after his 21st birthday, struck with two headers in four second-half minutes to secure Manchester City’s ninth League Cup title and Pep Guardiola’s fifth as boss. Pics: Manchester City
There were early signs it might be a fruitful approach, as Gyokeres got to the by-line for a pull-back that failed to find Kai Havertz and James Trafford was called on to make an incredible triple save, first parrying a Havertz effort and then repelling Saka’s two attempts on the rebound.
Piero Hincapie headed over from a Bukayo Saka corner as the Gunners continued to press, but City slowly grew into the game as the first half wore on and nearly went ahead just before the break, with Erling Haaland’s stretching header missing the target.
City carried that momentum into the second period as Haaland almost wriggled free in the area before being snuffed out by Arsenal bodies.
And Gunners keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga found himself in a muddle when coming out of his area to deal with a high, bouncing ball, only to misjudge the flight before pulling back the on-rushing Jeremy Doku. The Spanish stopper saw yellow and Antonie Semenyo curled the resulting free-kick past the post.
O’Reilly makes it Man City’s day
City’s pressure gradually became relentless, as Rodri, Semenyo and Haaland all saw half-chances go by, before O’Reilly struck in the 60th minute.
And it came courtesy of a Kepa mistake, with the keeper fumbling Rayan Cherki’s cross from the by-line, allowing O’Reilly to head in from two yards out and send the sky blue half of Wembley into raptures.
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That noise increased just four minutes later, with Matheus Nunes clipping a ball across goal from an almost identical spot as Cherki had done just moments earlier and O’Reilly was on hand again to nod past Kepa.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made a raft of changes in an attempt to get back into the game, with substitute Riccardo Calafiori initially coming closest by glancing the post from 12 yards out. Then a rasping shot missed the target, as the Gunners pursued a first Carabao Cup win in 33 years.
But this was to be City’s day, as they comfortably saw out the closing stages to move to within one success of Liverpool’s record 10 triumphs in the competition.
