Manchester City had no time for the romance of Aston Villa’s Carabao Cup final story. Pep Guardiola and his players deal only in the hard currency of domestic trophies and they extended their grip on it via a performance of near suffocating control.
It was important to add the qualification. Goals from Sergio Agüero and Rodri had put City in charge and, although Mbwana Samatta halved the deficit against the run of play before half-time, it looked as though Villa would be unable to fashion a shot at the equaliser, let alone score it. Guardiola’s team dictated the tempo for so long that it was hard to foresee the drama at the end.
Written by David Hytner at Wembley
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/mar/01/aston-villa-manchester-city-carabao-cup-final-match-report under the title “Manchester City sink Aston Villa to win third successive Carabao Cup”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
