Updated 19:24, 22 Mar 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nAnother Carabao Cup Final with Kepa’s fingerprints all over it(Image: 2026 Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/p>\n
Winning is all that counts when it comes to elite sport. Not the taking part.<\/p>\n
Which is a good job. Because Arsenal and Manchester City took little or no part in a Carabao Cup final so dull and dreary, it could have sent a glass eye to sleep. Micah Richards had predicted a classic before kick off. But it was the exact opposite, despite improving in the end. Here’s a tip Micah. Stop giving out tips.<\/p>\n
A polite description of this showpiece occasion would be to claim both teams cancelled each other out. But the brutal truth is that this was a woeful showcasing of English football, considering these sides are supposed to be the best two in the land. Two sides packed with footballing talent, unable to release the handbrake.<\/p>\n
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\nKepa’s nightmare moment handed the game to Manchester City(Image: 2026 Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
JOIN US ON FB!<\/strong> Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page<\/p>\nIt felt like both of them were more concerned with not losing the game, than winning it. There were times when Kepa Arrizabalaga took so long to distribute the ball from the back, those watching at home could have gone and made a brew.<\/p>\n
The first half was memorable for how forgettable it was. There were just seven shots before the break – the fewest in the opening 45 minutes of a League Cup or FA Cup final since Chelsea versus City in the 2019 League Cup final.<\/p>\n
More than 50 minutes had elapsed before some excitement took place. That was when Kepa came out of his box to tangle with Jeremy Doku, came off second best and found himself booked. From the resulting free kick, Antione Semenyo fired a cross hopelessly off target and out for a goal kick. It kind of summed up the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Pep Guardiola stood there with a perplexed look on his face. Welcome to the club, mate.<\/p>\n
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\nPep Guardiola on the touchline at Wembley(Image: 2026 Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
You had to feel sorry for those poor City supporters who had to evacuate their coach on the M6 when it caught fire en-route to Wembley. Not because it must have been a distressing thing to go through. But because a replacement coach was provided to get them down to London to watch this.<\/p>\n
A grapple between two opponents looking to suffocate one another, when what it really needed was some life breathing into it. A game of chess. And we all know how dull one of those can be.<\/p>\n
Both teams appeared to be wading through treacle. And it was left to prize pudding Kepa to maintain his tradition of adding some comedy value to a Carabao Cup final – and bring an end to the tedium.<\/p>\n
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\nOh Kepa!(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
What is it with Kepa and this fixture? Against City in the 2019 final he infamously refused to be substituted just before a penalty shoot out. Then against Liverpool in the 2022 final, he missed the deciding penalty.<\/p>\n
So it felt fitting when Kepa allowed a Rayan Cherki cross to slip through his fingers, giving Nico O’Reilly the simplest of finishes. He was still in shock by the time O’Reilly struck again to double City’s lead, and leave Arsenal with a mountain to climb.<\/p>\n
Guardiola sprinted down the touchline like a mad man, to celebrate. No doubt feeling grateful to Kepa in the process.<\/p>\n
Just like we all where, with the exception of those in red, of course, for having introduced some entertainment to proceedings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANCHESTER CITY 2-0 ARSENAL: Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders were shot down by two goals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}