Manchester City’s birthday boy was the trump card at Wembley, scoring twice from the left-back as Josep Guardiola’s side defeated title favorites Arsenal, capping off a fairy-tale weekend for England’s youngster.
Nico O’Reilly poses with the trophy as City players celebrate winning the League Cup (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Nico O’Reilly has gone from birthday boy to head boy, leading Manchester City to Carabao Cup glory at Wembley.
O’Reilly, who turned 21 on Saturday, scored two headers in four minutes as City thrashed Arsenal 2-0 to end their hopes of winning a quadruple title. And the England star admitted the fairytale weekend made him feel on top of the world.
O’Reilly said: “It’s an unbelievable feeling. To win the final and beat this team, we know how good they are. I’m excited. It’s a little unbelievable to see all the fans cheering like that when we score a goal. It’s a really good feeling and it’s been a great birthday weekend. My whole family came to watch the game. They’re all in the stands and I know they’re going to cheer. I can’t wait to celebrate with them.”
Josep Guardiola became the first manager to win this competition five times. It was also his 19th trophy in less than 10 years as City manager.
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He said: “What can I say? Winning trophies is important. I’m really happy because Mikel (Arteta) has built a team that is almost unbeatable. Winning the Carabao Cup for the fifth time and the first in 10 years is not bad.”
“We’re still not the team Arsenal were, we’re not the team we used to be, but we always found a way to win titles. I’m really happy about that and it feels special.”
Guardiola praised O’Reilly, adding: “He was probably the signing of the season. We had a long conversation with him when the season started. He started playing at left-back and was very impressed. He can play in many roles and is a guy who can be in the final third in any position he likes. He scored two great goals.”
Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva lifting the Carabao Cup trophy (Image: 2026 Getty Images)
City captain Bernardo Silva accused Arsenal of losing momentum.
“It felt difficult in the first 15 minutes. They were able to create big chances and James Trafford was great for us. In the second half we tried to go after them a little more. We felt like they were losing a little bit of energy and when we felt that we had to go after them even more.”
“We know that both teams have momentum in the finals. In those situations, we work together to finish it off in the shortest possible time. We had the firepower to go against them.”
“We wanted to stay consistent, stay compact and not make any stupid mistakes. Overall it was a very good performance.”
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