'We smell blood': Man City stars deliver ominous Arsenal title message after Carabao Cup final | OneFootball

Wembley hero Nico O’Reilly says Gunners ‘looked like they didn't know what to do’ in one-sided second half at Wembley

Manchester City stars Nico O’Reilly and Rodri have both warned Arsenal that their victory in the Carabao Cup final could yet have a major impact in the Premier League title race.

Academy graduate O’Reilly was the City hero at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, scoring two quick-fire headers in the space of just four second-half minutes as Pep Guardiola’s dominant side deservedly claimed the first major trophy of the season in convincing fashion.

They trail by nine points after back-to-back league draws with relegation battlers in Nottingham Forest and West Ham, though have a game in hand on leaders Arsenal, who still have to travel to the Etihad Stadium on April 19.

If City win their game in hand and beat Arsenal at home, then the pressure will be well and truly on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners for the final weeks of the campaign.

Both sides are also in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, facing Southampton and Liverpool respectively, while Arsenal also have a two-legged Champions League quarter-final tie against Sporting coming up after the international break.

City are out of Europe’s elite club competition following a comprehensive 5-1 aggregate defeat by Real Madrid in the last 16.

Rodri embraces Manchester City team-mate O’Reilly after his final heroics against Arsenal

Adam Davy/PA Wire

"Yes, 100 per cent,” O’Reilly told CBS Sports when asked if City now sensed an opening in the title battle. “The blood never went - we've always smelt blood. We're confident in ourselves, we know we can do it.

“They've got to come to our place which is a tough place to come to as everyone has seen this season. So we do smell blood and we've got to keep going.

“It does a lot for us, (we can) build momentum and just push on now. Obviously it's a big blow for them. They were going for everything.

"I thought when we came out in the second half we came out with a lot of energy and threat to their goal.

“Our pressing was on it, on the ball we were on it and it looked like they didn't know what to do to be honest.

“We will keep going. As soon as the international break is over we need to kick on and fight hard.

“We just need to focus on ourselves. The changing room is happy, everyone is happy with each other and we need to keep going.”

O’Reilly’s sentiments were echoed by team-mate Rodri, who also delivered an impressive performance in midfield to shut down Arsenal at Wembley.

Asked if the Carabao Cup final result could impact the title race, the Ballon d’Or winner said: “A lot, a lot. That's why I told you it's a game not only for this title but to show that we can beat them.

“The Madrid game was pretty tough but the team has recovered.

“We knew it was a very important game not only because of the cup but also because we had to face the best team in the league.

“It's clear we didn't want to go out of the Champions League but we went out and now we have to take the positives, we have more time to prepare for the games.

“There's still a lot to do but that's something to take into account - but we also have to celebrate this.

“Now we need to rest, go back for the next round of internationals and come back with the optimism that we still have two more competitions to fight for.

"I felt like they [Arsenal] dropped a bit physically, we detected it and we wanted to go for them. You can tell when you have players who are good in the area and Nico O'Reilly has again shown his potential.”