Pep Guardiola and Man City staff reaction vs Arsenal showed what Carabao Cup win really meant

Manchester City beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and did things exactly as Pep Guardiola wanted to win their first trophy of the season.

'Wembley again, ole ole' was the Manchester City message at the start of the Carabao Cup final. 'Champions again' was the chant from thousands of Blues before the end.

Whatever else happens this season, Pep Guardiola and his players have silverware again after a brilliant 2-0 win over an Arsenal team that had started to dream of making history. The only record on Sunday fell to the City manager, who now has more League Cup final victories than anyone else in English football as he reminded everyone that he may yet be the future when so many are desperate to consign him to the past.

Arsenal forced City into one of the most defensive displays seen from a Guardiola team in the league game at the Emirates, pushing them further and further back, attempting to suffocate them with pressing and force mistakes in the way that City sides have done so previously. The Blues very nearly won that game after Erling Haaland escaped to score a wonderful goal on the counter, yet at Wembley the game quickly took on the same shape.

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It felt like it meant much more than just a game of football between these two teams and managers, with City and Guardiola fighting to hold onto their possession-based football while under attack from an Arsenal side that looked stronger and like they were one mistake away from taking the lead.

Aside from James Trafford's excellent saves early on in the same move though, the Gunners were unable to make inroads with their pressure. It's just that when City did play through the press they were unable to create anything meaningful.

And interrupting all of it were the breaks in play while Arsenal prepared set-pieces; be it free-kicks, corners, or long throws, it again felt like a different sport at times to the one that saw Guardiola conquer English football with four Carabao Cup wins accompanying six Premier League titles in seven years.

The changing of the guard is expected at some point, with Mikel Arteta and Arsenal on course to reach the top of English football however much they end up winning this season. Yet Guardiola emphatically believes that City should be seen through the lens of a new team on the way up rather than the tired one that fell away last year.

And having come into this final much as they grew into the season after a ropey start, City weathered the storm in the first half and then brought one of their own after the break. For 15 minutes they squeezed Arsenal back into their own box with wave after wave of pressure, never really threatening Kepa's goal but building up the noise in front of them in the wall of blue they were kicking towards.

As the 60th minute approached, the breakthrough came. A diagonal ball from Rodri found Bernardo Silva, Kepa spilt a quick ball from Rayan Cherki and Nico O'Reilly reacted quickest to head in from a few yards. The homegrown No.10 that Guardiola has converted into a left-back was there popping up in the box to show that writing City off remains a mug's game.

All of the substitutes rushed to join in the celebrations in front of the City end, while Guardiola was so thrilled he turned round and booted an advertising board. Whether this is to be his final season or his final trophy or none of the above, this is a man who remains at the top of the game and with a burning passion and love for the football that his team plays.

When O'Reilly popped up again five minutes later after more excellent work from Rodri and Matheus Nunes, it was too much for all of City's coaching staff to take. Come for Guardiola running down the touchline Mourinho style, stay for Kolo Toure lifting up Pep Lijnders and spinning the No.2 round in the air like he was a five-year-old.

Guardiola wasn't finished there, admonishing Cherki for showboating shortly after the second goal and whipping up the crowd with five minutes to go as he looked for a strong finish from everyone. That included Cherki being taken off for a lovable bear hug as the Arsenal end emptied and City saw out a win that gave the excellent Trafford a clean sheet.

City are not favourites to win any other competition this season, with Arsenal having a strong lead in the Premier League and not many games to go. But the Blues are very much alive, and getting better for this year and the rest.

They will keep doing things their own way under Guardiola. Sunday showed that such a route still leads to silverware.