“The blood never went” – Nico O’Reilly reminds Arsenal of Manchester City’s hunger after Wembley heroics | OneFootball

Manchester City cup final hero Nico O’Reilly has reminded Arsenal that the Blues remain hungry as ever in their pursuit of the Premier League title.

A brace from the 21-year-old Mancunian helped City and Pep Guardiola earn a first piece of silverware in a 2-0 Carabao Cup final win at Wembley on Sunday evening.

City went out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage at the hands of Real Madrid earlier this month, though they remain in the running for a domestic treble in a transitional season under director of football Hugo Viana.

The Blues are nine points adrift of Arsenal in second place in the Premier League table, with a game in hand, and will come up against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final after the ongoing international break.

O’Reilly: Man City smell blood in the water after Arsenal win

City have left themselves a mountain to climb in the title race after succumbing to consecutive draws to Nottingham Forest and West Ham in their previous two Premier League games.

The Blues will face off against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on April 19 in what could be a title deciding 90 minutes of football, with O’Reilly citing the confidence boost the Carabao Cup final win has given Manchester City for the run-in.

On whether Manchester City smell blood in the water, O’Reilly said: “100 percent. The blood never went, we’ve always smelt blood,” in an interview with CBS Sports Golazo after Sunday’s win at Wembley.

“We’re confident in ourselves, we know we can do it. They (Arsenal) have got to come to our place (the Etihad Stadium) – which is tough to come to as everyone has seen. We smell blood and we’ve got to keep going.”

Wembley defeat a big blow for Arsenal, admits O’Reilly

Arsenal’s charge for an unprecedented quadruple has been killed off by Manchester City, whose brilliance in Premier League run-ins over the years has starved the Gunners of title glory and made them desperate to get over the line this time round.

However, O’Reilly wants his side to build on their Wembley success and take it game by game between now and the end of the season, noting the blow Arsenal have suffered.

“It does a lot for us, build momentum, just push on now,” O’Reilly added. “Obviously, it’s a big blow for them (Arsenal). They were going for everything, just as we were (before being knocked out of Europe by Real Madrid).”

Twenty Manchester City stars are representing their respective nations over the international break and Guardiola will be hoping his side have no fresh injury concerns when they regroup to face Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final on April 4.