Nico O'Reilly heads Man City to League Cup glory against Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City claimed the first silverware of the season by defeating Arsenal thanks to two Nico O'Reilly headers.

Mikel Arteta's side almost took the lead early on at Wembley when Kai Havertz was slipped through with James Trafford having to react quickly to close to down the angle and smother the shot.

After that it was a cagey first half of few real chances with Arsenal starting brighter and Manchester City growing into it as it went on.

Indeed, just before the break City had their best chance of the game until that point when Antoine Semenyo did well to find space to chip in a cross that Erling Haaland headed over.

City stepped up a level in the second half with Arsenal not helped by a nervy Kepa Arrizabalaga moment when he charged out of his goal to intercept a ball that Jérémy Doku got to first. The goalkeeper then had to foul the City man. Fortunately for Kepa his defenders were back so Peter Bankes couldn't view the incident as a denial of a clear goal scoring situation so just a yellow sufficed.

Things didn't get better for Arrizabalaga though when with an hour gone in the game Rayan Cherki clipped in a cross towards the back post. Kepa jumped up to claim but let the ball slip through with Nico O'Reilly then being able to head in an empty net.

O'Reilly then got his second of the game just minutes later. This time it was Matheus Nunes with the space to put in a cross that the defender ran on to to make it 2-0.

Arteta had to react with Nono Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori both coming on. It was the latter who had some bright moments shortly after his introduction, first heading straight at Trafford and then fizzing a low shot just off target.

In the end it was a game in which the old master Guardiola bested his former apprentice with the Citizens lifting the trophy for ninth time. Meanwhile Arsenal finish runners-up in this competition for a seventh time as they look to focus on their remaining competitions.

Incidents: The story of the match

1':

The match begins

38':

Missed opportunity! Piero Hincapié of Arsenal heads the ball from the left side of the six-yard box, but it goes over the bar. The chance was set up by Bukayo Saka, who delivered a cross after a corner kick.

45':

Missed opportunity! Erling Haaland from Manchester City had a header from just a short distance but couldn't find the target.

45':

Missed opportunity! Erling Haaland from Manchester City heads the ball just over the bar from a short distance, with assistance from Antoine Semenyo.

57':

Missed opportunity! Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City took a left-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area, but it went wide to the left. He was set up by Matheus Nunes.

60':

GOAL Manchester City: Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City) scores!

Nico O’Reilly scores goal number 1 in the competition (5 matches)

64':

GOAL Manchester City: Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City) scores!

Nico O’Reilly scores goal number 2 in the competition (5 matches)

78':

Missed opportunity! Riccardo Calafiori of Arsenal took a left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area, but it went wide.

90':

Missed opportunity! Jérémy Doku from Manchester City took a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it went wide to the left. Nathan Aké provided the assist.

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match