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Manchester
City lifted the Carabao Cup with victory over Arsenal (Joe Giddens/PA)
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Press Association report continues:
The
3-0 victory saw Guardiola claim his first silverware in England having been
appointed as manager at the Etihad Stadium in 2016.
Sergio
Aguero opened the scoring with a well-taken chip before Vincent Kompany and
David Silva struck after the break to sew up a convincing win.
All
three players were at the club when Guardiola arrived and, despite shelling out
on big name talent, they all remain key to his plans.
“They
(the experienced players) help, these three guys along with Yaya Toure…they
help to be what Manchester City is right now,” he said.
“It
is special. Sergio, Vincent and David scored the three goals and they help us
understand what it means, they put the pressure on us to win more titles.
“People
who come here know they have to win titles and that is why it is so important.”
Kompany
was particularly outstanding as he kept Arsenal’s club record signing
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet whilst weighing in with a crucial goal at the
other end of the pitch.
Guardiola
paid special praise to the Belgium international and other City players who
have formed part of the squad over the course of recent years.
“He
made an outstanding performance today,” Guardiola said of his captain.
“It
is not easy to defend from 40 metres out against Aubameyang, he is so fast.”
The
Belgium defender has suffered a torrid time with injury in recent years and was
clearly overjoyed when he put his side two goals ahead.
“My
body feels great,” said Kompany after lifting the trophy.
“Mentally
in my nature I’m just a warrior and any challenge I kind of see as something to
get stronger and help me along the way and, no matter what, carry on.”
Manchester
City certainly did not have to be at their best to beat a below-par Arsenal
side.
Arsene
Wenger conceded the Gunners were soundly defeated and believed the goals were
all down to the ineptitude of his players on the day.
“You
cannot say you are not disappointed when you concede goals the way we conceded
goals,” he said.
“I
think there was no need to make the corner on the second goal. You take the
good and the bad when you’re a manager. That’s part of the game.
“We
go away disappointed. I feel a little bit that everything went against us
today. We self-inflicted our punishment, because we had an unbelievable chance
at 0-0.
“We
gave them a goal and were a bit unlucky in the second half, even if we didn’t
start well at all, and were punished.”
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