Manchester City Crush Arsenal to Win 2018 Carabao Cup Final

Manchester City won the 2018 Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium as they crushed Arsenal 3-0 in Sunday's final.

Pep Guardiola's side were dominant from start to finish, and goals by Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva gave City a comfortable win over a disappointing Arsenal side.

Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News shared the two teams:

Manchester City started the game brightly, but Arsenal had the clearest chance of the opening exchanges. Mesut Ozil sent Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in on goal, and he looked set to score until Kyle Walker got a foot in and allowed goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to claim the ball.

ESPN FC's Jonathan Smith felt the Gabon international might have been offside in any case:

City took the lead after just 18 minutes following some poor defending by Shkodran Mustafi. Bravo launched a kick upfield, which caught the Germany international on the wrong side of Aguero. The striker then raced through on goal and dinked the ball over David Ospina.

Sports writer Ben Fairthorne said it was unacceptable defending by Mustafi:

Opta showed Aguero loves to score against Arsenal:

On the touchline, managers Guardiola and Arsene Wenger indulged in an argument following the goal, though it ended with a handshake and a hug.

Arsenal had few sights of goal in the first half with Kompany doing a fine job in containing Aubameyang. Granit Xhaka clipped a ball through for the striker, but the City captain showed fine pace to catch up with him and then eased him off the ball.

City reached half-time with their lead intact, but they were far from their best, as The Independent's Miguel Delaney explained:

Guardiola's side continued to threaten after the break, as Kompany went close with an effort that just deflected off Laurent Koscielny and flew wide. City were also forced into a change as Fernandinho picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Bernardo Silva.

Arsenal almost had a goal after a mistake by Bravo. A hopeful ball by Hector Bellerin found Aubameyang, and although the former Barcelona man came flying out of his area, he did not make contact with the ball. The striker could not take advantage, however, and ended up being penalised for a foul on the goalkeeper.

City then made their dominance count by adding a second goal on 58 minutes. Kevin De Bruyne played a corner to Ilkay Gundogan on the edge of the box, and his ball into the area was diverted past Ospina by Kompany.

Henry Winter of The Times relayed how City fans celebrated the goal:

City wrapped up the win in the 65th minute when Danilo found Silva, who fired a shot across the goal and past a diving Ospina. Former England striker Alan Shearer highlighted the gap in quality between the two teams:

It was a dismal showing by Arsenal, who were weak defensively and could not match the commitment and attitude of their opponents.

In contrast, City will hope this is their first trophy of many this season. The win will also be made all the sweeter by the goals, which were scored by three of the club's greatest players.