⚽ EFL Carabao Cup 2026/27 Season

[Distraction]

Congratulations to the EFL Cup winners, Manchester City!

They had more ball possession in the match but there was more of a balance as for the shots. Arsenal found the target more and had even 2 shots hitting the post...

If Calafiori / G. Jesus scored that instead of targeting the post then the final minutes would be a chance for Arsenal to come back. That's good for Guardiola though rather than finishing the league trophyless.

[Derekfunds]

O'Reilly finally finds the back of the net with a header into an open net. I smelled goal in the beginning of the second half as Manchester City kept on pressuring Arsenal defense with aggressive attacks.

Arsenal couldn't withstand the pressure. O'Reilly finds the back of the net for the second time with a header four minutes after his first goal which came in on the 60th and 64th minutes respectively to make it 2-0 at Wembley.

Manchester City are finally so close to lifting a trophy this season. This is like one of their only chances together with the FA Cup...

But I must admit I was waiting for Arsenal to win the game instead. Bookies also thought the same but here we are! O'Reilly just looks great today.

Guardiola had a hard time in the 1st half but made up for it later on. This cup is less important than the FA Cup maybe but it's really important for Manchester City as they are out of the CL and struggling in the PL. 

It's game over already and City name has been crested on the trophy. What a beautiful performance from City. They were able to outplay Arsenal to the point that Arsenal found it difficult to create any good chance of netting the post. This is the 5th time that Pep Guardiola has won this trophy making him the only manager that has achieved it more than any manager.

Congratulations to them.

Well before now I already had the feeling that Manchester city won't allow Arsenal to take away their only hope this season and render Pep Guardiola Trophiless this season again. Both team played absolutely well but Manchester city was so fortunate to utilize two of their big chances, Erling Haaland would have been the first to open the net but his head could not touch the ball but O'Reilly did a great job today and he scored 2 goals and I think he should take the player of the match. Congratulations to Manchester city, I was shocked to see Pep Guardiola celebrate 2 goals because Guardiola of 2 seasons back don't even celebrate 4 goals sometimes.

[Stepstowealth]

Congratulations to the EFL Cup winners, Manchester City!

Congratulations to Pep on winning the Carabao cup for the 9th time. There are many people who blame the Arsenal coach for starting the second choice goalkeeper in this competition and in the finals because he was the one who caused the errors that led to the goals in the game, but I don't think he's to blame because Kepa has been good in this competition, it is just unfortunate that he made silly mistakes in this final, and City pounced. Arsenal played really poorly in the second half, Havertz was not good in midfield, Hincapie should not have started the second half because of his yellow card too.

[Joeboy]

It's game over already and City name has been crested on the trophy. What a beautiful performance from City. They were able to outplay Arsenal to the point that Arsenal found it difficult to create any good chance of netting the post. This is the 5th time that Pep Guardiola has won this trophy making him the only manager that has achieved it more than any manager.

Congratulations to them.

Well this should act as a compensation for City elimination from UCL...Arsenal had their whole squad in the pitch today but yet unable to create any crate any scoring opportunities, I just didn't expect them to lose to City...In most of their games this season, Arsenal has always been the ones mounting pressure on their opponent, and when the pressure was given to them today by the city players they weren't able to withstand it and fight back... It even got to a point that the City players (particularly Cherki) even started mocking Arsenal with some funny ball control and skills....This loss shouldn't make Arsenal back down or lose focus since they still have The UCL and EPL ahead of them to compensate themselves with...

[Byebyebtc]

All I know and expect in this game finals is that it's gonna be a tough and difficult game for the both sides for a winner to emerge  it's being over a decade since Arsenal last won this very Cup and that's why they would play like a hungry lions to break the drought of this competition, while for City their last time of winning the EFL was in 2016 under Pep Guardiola. So with all that pending about this final it's just hard to predict a winner with or without considering current forms

It's tough but not as interesting as I expected, it doesn't even look like a final but a normal Premier League game, both teams are still struggling to score and the first half would soon end. Surprisingly Manchester City is pressing more but they've not got enough good chances, if they had the chances Arsenal had maybe they could've score a goal. Manchester City is being technicial and trying beat Arsenal's defence but they can do better in the 2nd half. At this point it's 50/50, winning is open to either of them.

Your right, the match doesn't really looking like a finals,
But how do we really expect a finals to look like    I guess more of crowd chanting and intensity, also high level of pressure from the players, but from what I watch without knowing about the final, I would have thought it to be a normal primer league match.

Nevertheless Manchester city has won their first trophy this season, and Arsenal still with NON, I guess they will now out all focus more on pl trophy.

[aylabadia05]

O'Reilly finally finds the back of the net with a header into an open net. I smelled goal in the beginning of the second half as Manchester City kept on pressuring Arsenal defense with aggressive attacks.

Arsenal couldn't withstand the pressure. O'Reilly finds the back of the net for the second time with a header four minutes after his first goal which came in on the 60th and 64th minutes respectively to make it 2-0 at Wembley.

I watched the entire EFL Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester City. As for the result, we already know it: Manchester City won by two goals. Both of Manchester City’s goals were scored by O’Reilly with headers in front of the Arsenal goal, in a very similar fashion.

What I want to say is that Arsenal and Arteta lack a winning mentality.
Gabriel is great as a center back, but when playing in the final, his defensive prowess seemed to vanish.
Saka is great with the playing quality to score goals and launch attacks on the opponent’s goal, but in the final, Saka struggled against a defender of Khusanov’s caliber.

From the start, I had hoped that by watching this match, I would see how Arsenal won the final, but it turns out nothing has changed.

[IceLincoln]

It's game over already and City name has been crested on the trophy. What a beautiful performance from City. They were able to outplay Arsenal to the point that Arsenal found it difficult to create any good chance of netting the post. This is the 5th time that Pep Guardiola has won this trophy making him the only manager that has achieved it more than any manager.

Congratulations to them.

Well this should act as a compensation for City elimination from UCL...Arsenal had their whole squad in the pitch today but yet unable to create any crate any scoring opportunities, I just didn't expect them to lose to City...In most of their games this season, Arsenal has always been the ones mounting pressure on their opponent, and when the pressure was given to them today by the city players they weren't able to withstand it and fight back... It even got to a point that the City players (particularly Cherki) even started mocking Arsenal with some funny ball control and skills....This loss shouldn't make Arsenal back down or lose focus since they still have The UCL and EPL ahead of them to compensate themselves with...

Congratulations to Manchester City and Pep Guardiola they know how to win trophies, and are still a sure bet whereas Arsenal can never be trusted with such responsibility, they’ll only have to struggle for the League title…. Out of all competitions they’re in this season, they’re going to be lucky atleast with one, I’m suspecting it’ll be the League cos they have zero to no chance with the others.
Finally Pep didn’t go trophyless this season again…, nice one for him and the club despite they’re still struggling they’re able to win something.

[Lida93]

All I know and expect in this game finals is that it's gonna be a tough and difficult game for the both sides for a winner to emerge  it's being over a decade since Arsenal last won this very Cup and that's why they would play like a hungry lions to break the drought of this competition, while for City their last time of winning the EFL was in 2016 under Pep Guardiola. So with all that pending about this final it's just hard to predict a winner with or without considering current forms

The first 45 minutes of the match is gone, and no goal has been scored so far. As we all can see in the match, the match is still unpredictable, and both teams are guarding their box with all their might to not concede any goals that could cost them the EFL Cup trophy.

On my own side, I would prefer Arsenal to lift this EFL Cup trophy this season. Let it be that they denied Manchester City a trophy, not for Manchester City to deny them a trophy because Manchester City has done that to them, denying them a Premier League trophy about twice, making them go trophyless in that season(2022/2023 and 2023/2024)

To be honest Arsenal didn't show any contest spirit in this final after the first half where they had the only balanced play. The second half was erratic and savage as they were mainly defending hoping on a counter attack that wasn't forth coming.

Arteta defending instead of attacking was a bad tactics for a team like Manchester city in a final where it was the only glaring opportunity for City to lift a trophy this season.  Arsenal couldn't revenge against City and it's because City were the better side in terms of the game in this final. A victory well deserved.

[Obim34]

What I want to say is that Arsenal and Arteta lack a winning mentality..

I won't say so, it happened Manchester City won Carabao Cup, not the way we expected but it was very descent considering that they have very little possibility of winning another title, the Premier League is already half way out of their capacity, more straight four wins from Arsenal in the remaining fixtures and the title race ends for City.

Congrats to Pep and Manchester City, meanwhile Arteta needs to go back and focus on the other competitions, most especially the Premier League which he has better possibility of winning than any club.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Congratulations to Manchester City and Pep Guardiola they know how to win trophies, and are still a sure bet whereas Arsenal can never be trusted with such responsibility, they’ll only have to struggle for the League title…. Out of all competitions they’re in this season, they’re going to be lucky atleast with one, I’m suspecting it’ll be the League cos they have zero to no chance with the others.
Finally Pep didn’t go trophyless this season again…, nice one for him and the club despite they’re still struggling they’re able to win something.

A good performance from Manchester City team they were all out in the second half to get the goal against Arsenal and they took the advantage they had to score two goals knowing that Arsenal would not be able to come back in the game Manchester City went for defense it helped them to win the game because Arsenal wasn't playing well in the second half. Arsenal should know focus on the league since they have lost this one and they should be serious but to lose in their upcoming games because of they lose Manchester City could take advantage of the chances to come closer to equal the point gap between them.

[Adbitco]

Arsenal has been the better side against Manchester City since this season and last season, they have won almost all their meetings between both last season and this season, now that it matters most for Arsenal to beat Manchester City and win their first silverware after almost 6 years of trying, they failed again. What kind of team is this Arsenal self? Very unreliable and never to be trusted team. With the way they have claimed to be in form this season this is what they ended up with. I was almost hearing a quadruple from some of their fans on a Facebook page I belong to. I will love to go check it out now that they lost the trophy, I want to head their excuses, lol. Let me go and laugh at the comedy club.

[Felicity_Tide]

What I want to say is that Arsenal and Arteta lack a winning mentality..

I won't say so, it happened Manchester City won Carabao Cup, not the way we expected but it was very descent considering that they have very little possibility of winning another title,

So he thinks just because they couldn't defeat Manchester City, automatically makes them a team without a winning mentality... How funny. In a game of final especially this particular one, no one was writing Manchester City off because we all know that they also stand a chance to win. Even from the odds that bookmarkers shared, it was just a very small difference. If you say they lack winning mentality,.then I guess all teams do because we've seen the same City get knocked out from the UCL lately.

In the first half, it looked like Arsenal should have had a goal because they created more chances, but the second half was a complete scene. They allowed Manchester City to dominate the ball to the point that they had to defend which eventually led to the 2 goals. This is just another prove that having a classic attack and an offensive tactics also win you trophies.

the Premier League is already half way out of their capacity, more straight four wins from Arsenal in the remaining fixtures and the title race ends for City.

He has to get it right this time. This isn't the time to start playing for draws. 7 more games to go. The sooner he wraps up the league, the better for his team. And interestingly, they're going to meet Manchester City at the Etihad, and that game is going to be a big decider.

[Zoomic]

I feel sorry for Arsenal and at the same time I am ashamed of them. What is really wrong with Arsenal?
In fact I am beginning to believe that Michael Arteta doesn't have finals playing abilities. He doesn't have the ability to lift trophies for Arsenal.

What did he just do? Infact what mentality did he induce in Arsenal. Does he even have something motivational to tell those boys? Infact, does the boys need motivation. They need to be naturally motivated by lack of trophies to show their consistent efforts since seasons ago.

The match was not supposed to be a final match for Arsenal. It was supposed to be a nettle, infact Iran Vs US war for them. They were supposed to fight with their last blood. I am saddened.

[yixichloro2xx]

I feel sorry for Arsenal and at the same time I am ashamed of them. What is really wrong with Arsenal?
In fact I am beginning to believe that Michael Arteta doesn't have finals playing abilities. He doesn't have the ability to lift trophies for Arsenal.

What did he just do? Infact what mentality did he induce in Arsenal. Does he even have something motivational to tell those boys? Infact, does the boys need motivation. They need to be naturally motivated by lack of trophies to show their consistent efforts since seasons ago.

The match was not supposed to be a final match for Arsenal. It was supposed to be a nettle, infact Iran Vs US war for them. They were supposed to fight with their last blood. I am saddened.

I don't even feel sorry for Arsenal, they got what they truly deserved. Like why will you be parking the bus like that ina final against Manchester City. When you also have good players who can change the outcome of a game. I don't usually understand the way Arteta thinks, maybe he is still scared of Pep guardiola, he shouldn't be defending like when he is not leading. Even when Manchester City scored their first goal , Arsenal were not looking like a team that wants to equalize. They were poor from the first half to second half. I hope one day Arsenal fans will be honest about Saka.

[EFS]

I can accept Manchester City winning the cup, as long as Arsenal win the league. I don't understand why they struggle so much in finals. They hadn't been able to win this trophy for years either, always losing in the final. Maybe it would've been different if Raya had played instead of Kepa, but Arteta played Kepa in the EFL Cup from the start and didn't change that in the final.

Even in the seasons when Pep is criticized the most, he still manages to win trophies. Congrats to City. This is City's 9th and Pep's 5th EFL Cup. He passed Mourinho, Ferguson and Clough.

[asriloni]

I can accept Manchester City winning the cup, as long as Arsenal win the league. I don't understand why they struggle so much in finals. They hadn't been able to win this trophy for years either, always losing in the final. Maybe it would've been different if Raya had played instead of Kepa, but Arteta played Kepa in the EFL Cup from the start and didn't change that in the final.

Even in the seasons when Pep is criticized the most, he still manages to win trophies. Congrats to City. This is City's 9th and Pep's 5th EFL Cup. He passed Mourinho, Ferguson and Clough.

Replacing Raya with Kepa has to be the reason why Arsenal lost in the final. Kepa's rating said it all. It's a blunder from Arteta. So pep was able to capitalised it as advantage. You're right if it was Raya, it might be a different result. Beside that Arsenal also has so many injuries on their side. So those are reason why they could perform well in the final of league cup.

Missing league is not something needs to be upset, but kinda different if they bottle their 90% chance to win the league. 

[MorganaX]

I can accept Manchester City winning the cup, as long as Arsenal win the league. I don't understand why they struggle so much in finals. They hadn't been able to win this trophy for years either, always losing in the final. Maybe it would've been different if Raya had played instead of Kepa, but Arteta played Kepa in the EFL Cup from the start and didn't change that in the final.

Even in the seasons when Pep is criticized the most, he still manages to win trophies. Congrats to City. This is City's 9th and Pep's 5th EFL Cup. He passed Mourinho, Ferguson and Clough.

I just talked about this earlier that this arsenal club lacks the finesse and seriousness that would enable them win a trophy at a final played by two teams and am not saying this just because they got bartered today, I mean arsenal having been like this for some time now and they have failed to show that they want to win because I mean what was that performance they put against Manchester City, it was totally shameless and so disappointing too.

[snipie]

Odds are better for Arsenal than Manchester City, ~2 vs ~3 respectively

But look at what we saw, what we all thought was going to play out is, Arsenal will take this trophy only for us to see Arsenal lost two goals to none to the Manchester City guys. It was such an embarrassing outing for the Gunners and all their fans are seriously pained right now and are already doubting if they will be able to win the Premier League titles and the Champions league title as well...

If the EFL Carabao Cup final game took place just after few rounds, I would say that Arsenal sold the match for Manchester City so they can win something this season!
Congratulations to Manchester City, well done in ruining most people bets in what supposed to be gunners best season so far.
Arsenal has to focus on the Premier League and try their best in UEFA Champions League. My doubts increased a lot after this match but I still have hope in Arsenal.

[Humblevirus]

I feel sorry for Arsenal and at the same time I am ashamed of them. What is really wrong with Arsenal?
In fact I am beginning to believe that Michael Arteta doesn't have finals playing abilities. He doesn't have the ability to lift trophies for Arsenal.

What did he just do? Infact what mentality did he induce in Arsenal. Does he even have something motivational to tell those boys? Infact, does the boys need motivation. They need to be naturally motivated by lack of trophies to show their consistent efforts since seasons ago.

The match was not supposed to be a final match for Arsenal. It was supposed to be a nettle, infact Iran Vs US war for them. They were supposed to fight with their last blood. I am saddened.

Arsenal did not deserve that trophy; it is Manchester City that deserved it, and that is why they came onto the pitch with a winning mindset. That is also why they played well. Arsenal did not play as everyone expected. Truly, Arsenal’s performances have dropped, and that is why they have been conceding goals recently. Arsenal came onto the pitch with the aim of defending against Manchester City, and that is why they did not show any good play in today final.

In fact, I did not have much hope for Arsenal winning the trophy, but I still wished they would win it. Even in other competitions, if Arsenal is not careful, even if they reach the final, they may still lose. The only trophy I currently have hope that Arsenal can win is the Premier League, but in others, they may not get past the semi-final. Even if Arsenal and Manchester City meet again in the FA Cup, it is possible that Manchester City will still beat them because of the tactics Arsenal always try to use against Manchester City.

[nelson4lov]

I'm very happy about the outcome of today's EFL cup final. I personally know a couple of Arsenal fans and they have been too vocal about winning the Quadruple this season. Losing the EFL final means they're down to treble own that might reduce to a double as well.

Kudos to Guardiola as well, he's such a superb coach. I knew that City won't let the EFL final go to the hands of Arsenal after they lost embarrassingly against Real Madrid in the UCL round of 16.