Manchester City see off Arsenal to claim League Cup glory at Wembley Stadium | OneFootball

Manchester City won the 2025/26 League Cup courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Arsenal in Sunday’s final at Wembley Stadium.

Arsenal had the game’s first huge opportunity through Kai Havertz, who was denied a second final goal against Man City by James Trafford.

That set the tone for a dominant opening half hour for Mikel Arteta’s men in which they had four shots compared to their opponents’ zero.

City’s first decent chance of the contest came in the final minute of the opening half when Erling Braut Haaland rose highest to meet Antoine Semenyo’s delivery, but he was unable to keep his effort down.

The start of the second half ushered in a change in the ascendancy as Pep Guardiola’s men came out of the dressing room with intent.

City deservedly broke the deadlock on the hour mark, albeit with some inadvertent help from Kepa Arrizabalaga.

His mistake allowed Nico O’Reilly to head home from close range in front of England manager Thomas Tuchel.

Still reeling from the concession of the opener, Arsenal went further behind four minutes later to another O’Reilly header after a lovely delivery from Matheus Nunes.

This spurred Arteta to make his first throw of the dice as Noni Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori were sent on.

Calafiori almost got his side back into the contest twice in the space of six minutes. Trafford dealt with his first effort, while his second bite at the cherry kissed the post.

Arteta introduced Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli in a bid to get back into the game. The former hit the woodwork with a looping header for what was Arsenal’s final meaningful attempt.

With their quadruple hopes now over, Arsenal will now turn their attention to glory on three fronts – the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

While City are out of Champions League contention, they are still in contention for the FA Cup and the Premier League, although a nine-point gap might be insurmountable with only eight games left.