Pep Guardiola claimed his maiden English silverware as goals by Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva gave his Manchester City side an easy 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the League Cup final on Sunday Feb 25,2018
The first ever domestic final clash between the sides was a largely disappointing affair at a freezing Wembley Stadium but runaway Premier League leaders City had far too much for an Arsenal side who suffered a miserable afternoon. City, who appear to have sealed the Premier League title barring a monumental collapse, did not even have to hit top gear to lift the trophy for the third time in five years
Aguero’s 18th-minute goal gave City a halftime lead and Arsenal withered after the break as Kompany prodded in from close range after 58 minutes before Silva thumped home a left-footer seven minutes later. Arsenal’s fans left in droves in the final 20 minutes while City’s fans decorated the stadium with sky blue. Arsenal have now lost a record six League Cup finals and it remains the only silverware manager Arsene Wenger has not won.
Despite the 27 points separating the sides in the Premier League, Arsenal arrived at Wembley having won their last three domestic finals, all in the FA Cup.
Their pedigree in knockout play offered hope of some salvation for another disappointing league season, but from the moment Aguero opened the scoring it looked a lost cause. For all City’s dazzling football this season the breakthrough came from an old-fashioned 70 metre hoof forward by City’s keeper Claudio Bravo — who had kept his place in favour of usual keeper Ederson. Aguero got the better of Shkodran Mustafi all too easily and he calmly advanced to dink a delicate finish over David Ospina as Laurent Koscielny tried to cover. Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was in use for the first time in an English final and Wenger could have been excused wanting to have a second look just to clarify how his side had been opened up in such basic fashion. Arsenal barely conjured a chance apart from early on when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang somehow failed to beat Bravo from close range after Mesut Ozil’s ball in.
Kompany had already had an effort deflected just wide early in the second half and when the Belgian defender found himself in the Arsenal box again soon afterwards he poked out a leg to divert Ilkay Gundogan’s low pass into the net. City were now beginning to click and Arsenal crumbled again when Silva buried a low shot past Ospina
The match was Manchester City's sixth League Cup Final, and their third in five seasons
For Arsenal, the final was their eighth total in the competition
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