On Monday night, one of the biggest announcements in modern English football was dropped, sending shockwaves for those of us in attendance at Arsenal vs Burnley at least. It was widely reported that Pep Guardiola will step down at Manchester City manager at the end of the season, which is just days away. He does so having achieved yet another unique cup triumph.
A decade ago, he took charge of his first game in English football, a hard-fought 2-1 win over David Moyes' Sunderland, courtesy of a late Paddy McNair own goal.
Well, 591 matches and 20 trophies later, English football may never expirence dominance quite like this ever again. Four Premier League titles in a row, the 2023 treble winning season and 100 points in 2017/18, Guardiola has broken plenty of records during his time at the Etihad, but achieved yet another last weekend.
On Saturday, Antoine Semenyo's impudent back-heel flick late on saw the Citizens beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. Having also defeated Arsenal 2-0 in March's EFL Cup Final, Nico O'Reilly scoring both that day, they join a select group of teams to achieve England's cup double.
List of clubs to win both the FA Cup & League Cup in the same season
- 1993: Arsenal - beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in both finals.
- 2001: Liverpool - also won the UEFA Cup.
- 2007: Chelsea - beat Manchester United 1-0 in the first final at the new Wembley.
- 2019: Manchester City - also won the Premier League title.
- 2022: Liverpool - beat Chelsea on penalties in both finals.
- 2024: Manchester City - Pep Guardiola 1st manager to win 5 EFL Cups.
Of course, the cup double has been achieved before. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea have all achieved this, as well as Manchester City themselves, as part of their domestic quadruple in 2018/19. However, the Sky Blues this season did something no one has ever achieved before.
Across the EFL Cup and FA Cup, Man City won every single game they played, a first in English football. Arsenal required four replays in '93, Liverpool lost their semi-final first leg in 2001, Chelsea were taken to a replay by Spurs in 2007 while Man City in 2019 and Liverpool three years later prevailed after shootouts in finals.
Manchester City's cup record 2025/26
- Matches played: 12. Wins: 12. Goals scored: 38. Goals conceded: 5.
Scoring 38 goals across 12 cup games is a staggering number, even if ten came against Exeter in January. Nevertheless, only George Birch of the Grecians, as well as Swansea's Gonçalo Franco, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga of Newcastle and Southampton's Finn Azaz even managed to score against the Sky Blues during these two cup victories.
Guardiola will not bow out with another Champions League trophy nor, more than likely, yet another Premier League title in his hands, but he was never going to depart empty handed was he?
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