LONDON – The first major domestic trophy of the season is Manchester City 's. And after a dominant 2-0 win against Arsenal in the English League Cup final on Sunday, it may not be the last.
Manchester-born Nico O’Reilly sealed victory with both goals in the second half at Wembley Stadium. The win could also have delivered a psychological blow in the race for the Premier League title as Pep Guardiola aims to chase down Arsenal’s nine-point lead at the top of the standings.
Recommended Videos
“(It's an) unbelievable feeling to win a final and to beat this team. We know how good they are," O’Reilly told Sky Sports. “We need to build on it now, it’ll give us momentum."
This was serial trophy-winner Guardiola flexing his muscles. It was his 16th major trophy as City manager and a record fifth League Cup. He has won 34 career titles as a manager including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
And, once again, he was stamping out Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta's own ambitions, having twice beaten his former assistant to the league title in recent years.
“I’m really pleased because I know the opponent we played. Mikel created a team that is almost unbeatable," Guardiola said. "Every time you win a title it looks more difficult than in the past. It is really difficult for many reasons.”
Arsenal remains favorite to be crowned league champion this season for the first time since 2004, given its big lead. But with second-place City having a game in hand and the teams still to play each other in Manchester at the Etihad Stadium, the picture could look very different in the coming weeks.
City’s win also ended Arsenal’s bid this season for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies by an English team - including the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
"I'm very sad. It is a very hard one to take, especially for our players and our supporters because we know how much it means to them and how much we want that," Arteta said. “We will manage that energy in the right way and we have to go through that pain and disappointment. It's normal and it's part of football.”
The 21-year-old O’Reilly, who came through City’s academy, was the unlikely hero with both goals from left back.
He took advantage of Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga's fumble to head City in front on the hour. And he headed in a second four minutes later to effectively kill off the match.
“My whole family came down today (to watch) ... I know they’ll be buzzing and I can’t wait to see them,” O’Reilly said.
Arteta said he had no regrets about selecting Kepa — who had played in previous rounds — rather than first-choice David Raya.
Premier League crisis deepens for Tottenham
Tottenham’s Premier League survival fight was plunged deeper into crisis with a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, one of three league games played on Sunday.
The relegation six-pointer left Spurs one place and one point above the drop zone and raised further questions about the future of coach Igor Tudor.
“The season is tough, especially in this moment. Another very bad (result) for us,” said Tottenham captain Cristian Romero. “The situation is tough, but most important thing is play (every game) like a final now.”
Fellow relegation-fighting Forest climbed above Spurs to 16th in the standings. The only positive on another miserable day for Tottenham was defeat for West Ham at Aston Villa to keep it in the bottom three.
Tottenham - one of English soccer’s most iconic teams and a founding member of the Premier League - is still without a win in the top flight in 2026. Its last win was Dec. 28 and it has lost six of its last seven games.
Igor Jesus’ header just before halftime gave Forest the lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Morgan Gibbs-White added a second just after the hour mark.
Taiwo Awoniyi completed Forest’s first league win under coach Vitor Pereira in the 87th to leave home fans fearing the end of its ever-present stay in England’s top division since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.
Tudor was hired last month to try to turn Spurs’ season around, but has lost five of his seven games in charge in all competitions and seen his team eliminated from the Champions League.
Tottenham remains one point above 18th-place West Ham, which lost 2-0 to Villa.
Villa boosted its chances of Champions League qualification and took advantage of all of its immediate rivals dropping points.
Villa is fourth, one point behind Manchester United and five points above fifth-place Liverpool.
Brian Brobbey struck in the 90th minute to give Sunderland bragging rights in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle.
Brobbey’s close-range effort sealed a 2-1 comeback win at St. James’ Park and saw Sunderland complete a league double over its fiercest rival.
Earlier, the game had been halted due to a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd towards Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida.
Before kickoff, there had been tense scenes between fans outside the stadium. Northumberland police said one arrest was made.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer