Manchester City beat Arsenal to win Carabao Cup: Key stats
What's the story
Manchester City have won the 2025-26 Carabao Cup after a stunning 2-0 victory over Arsenal. The star of the match was City's left-back Nico O'Reilly, who scored both goals in the second half. His first came after an error from Arsenal's reserve goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, while the second was a well-placed header from Matheus Nunes's cross.
Strategy success
Trafford's heroics help City
Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, made some bold decisions for this final. He chose to start James Trafford in goal. The move paid off as Trafford made some crucial saves early on, including a triple save from Kai Havertz and two follow-up attempts from Bukayo Saka.
Cup triumph
O'Reilly's brace secures victory for City
O'Reilly's first goal came in the 60th minute when he capitalized on a mistake by Arrizabalaga. The second followed just four minutes later, with the left-back heading home from Nunes's cross. Despite Arsenal hitting the woodwork twice through substitutes Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus, City held on to their lead and secured Guardiola's fifth League Cup title as manager.
Player reaction
O'Reilly on winning the final
After the match, O'Reilly expressed his delight at winning the final against a strong Arsenal side. He said, "Unbelievable feeling to win a final and beat this team. We know how good they are. Now we need to build on it." The left-back also talked about his journey from playing in midfield as a kid to scoring goals at the highest level now with Manchester City.
Numbers
Contrasting records for the two teams
As per Opta, City now boast 15 wins at the new Wembley Stadium as a neutral venue since it opened in 2007. It's now the most such victories of any side in that time at the national stadium, overtaking Chelsea's 14. Arsenal have lost each of their last four League Cup finals. It is now the outright longest run of finals without taking home the trophy by any side in the competition's history.
Do you know?
5th Carabao Cup for Guardiola; 9th for City
Guardiola has won the League Cup for the fifth time. It's he most of any manager in the competition's history, overtaking Brian Clough, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Meanwhile, City have won their 9th Carabao Cup honor.
H2H
Here's the H2H record
In terms of the head-to-head record between the two sides in competitive matches, Arsenal own 101 wins compared to City's 66. A total of 48 matches have been drawn. Before this defeat, Arsenal were unbeaten against City in their last six matches across all competitions (W3 D3). Notably, before that, City had beaten Arsenal in 8 successive matches and claimed 15 wins in 16 consecutive meetings (L1).