Manchester City win the Carabao Cup for the third straight season

It wasn’t easy, but Manchester City claimed their third straight Carabao Cup title and their fifth since 2014 with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at Wembley.

Manchester City capped off a fantastic week of football with the first major trophy of the season after they captured the Carabao Cup for the third straight time in a tight final against newly-promoted Aston Villa.

This trophy is the eighth of the Pep Guardiola era, and could represent another sign that a difficult start to the season could be turning around for the Citizens. Phil Foden once again made the most of an opportunity to start a big match, as he assisted Sergio Agüero’s opener. The former City academy product has now either scored or assisted on nine goals in his last 10 starts in all competitions, and appears ready to ascend as the heir apparent once captain David Silva departs at the end of the season.

City expected another comfortable cruise to victory in a cup final after taking a 2-0 lead, but Dean Smith’s men fought back earnestly, with Mbwana Samatta cutting the deficit just before the break by capitalizing on a John Stones slip.

Although there were no goals for the rest of the match, both sides continued to create chances in an end-to-end affair, with the Villans fighting right down to the final whistle. All in all, however, it was a deserved victory for Manchester City in a competition they have become more than accustomed to winning.

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By adding the seventh League Cup trophy in club history, City move within one of Liverpool for the most all time. Although many top clubs do not take this competition seriously, at the business end, it still means a lot to win a major trophy, and City have much to be proud of from yet another successful campaign.

With the second leg against Real Madrid approaching, City are playing some of their best football of the season, which is highly encouraging as we come down to the most important stretch of the year.