Key events
90+2 min Gary Neville names O’Reilly player of the match, and rightly so. His enterprise in popping up on the goalline and at the back post is, in a sense, the contest in microcosm, City the more creative side with Arsenal struggling to achieve anything beyond the formulaic.
90+1 min We see a replay of the Jesus header and it turns out it hit the bar – Trafford didn’t make the save. Nevertheless, he’s been solid, his save from Havertz in the first half one of the key moments of the match.
90 min Foden replaces Cherki; we’ll have four additional minutes.
90 min Doku takes the ball in centrefield, no one anywhere near him. So he bounces off towards goal, lashing a low shot just wide.
88 min Arsenal are trying now, though, a cross to the back post finding Jesus leaping and looping, Trafford doing well to claw it away from under the bar. The difference between his and Kepa’s performance has more or less settled this final.
86 min Carrying this result into the international break will sting for Arsenal, who don’t play again in the league until 11 April. Their collective no-show today is hard to understand – they’ve not been flattened by a classic Guardiola performance, they’ve just not found the vim to deliver their best stuff.
85 min “With all this Dylanology swirling about the MBM today,” says Justin Kavanagh, “I have just one comment about watching Arsenal this season: I really think it’s past time that Arteta went electric.”
Judas! (Assuming George Graham is in the ground).
83 min It’ll be O’Reilly who gets the headlines and rightly so, but the pattern of the game has been set by Semenyo and Doku. I also think this is the best I’ve seen Rodri play since his return from injury – he and Bernardo haven’t been amazing, but their passing and positional intelligence have enabled them to control this game from about 30 minutes in.
82 min Two more changes for Arsenal: Jesus and Martinelli for Trossard and White. Rice moves to right-back, which is surprising – I’d thought they’d go three at the back given they need to score twice in eight or so minutes.
80 min Can results be reversed for unacceptable trouser-shoe combos?
78 min A cross from the right arrives at Calafori, who shoots low and Trossard flings himself at it on the slide, feathering a touch … into the base of the post. Arsenal are building a bit of pressure, but City immediately take heat out of the game by keeping possession.
77 min “That Dylan parallel is so superb I wish the author nothing but joy forever, writes Mike Morris. “It’s already made sense of my feelings about Eric Cantona, who I always thought deeply flawed (poor discipline, always giving the ball away, didn’t score enough) and even overrated – albeit exactly what that United team needed in 1992. I get it now – playing around his idiosyncratic genius, limitations and all, transformed that side from a skilled but stodgy attacking outfit into a team that attacked with a speed and cutting edge that had never really been seen before. Admittedly, ‘Cantona was good’ is a realisation I really should have been able to make on my own.”
Context matters, but every football team needs a bit of maverick.
76 min Arteta has got better at spinning reverses into positivity, but this one is going to really test the new him. He’ll be raging inside because his team just haven’t turned up today; they’ve played without confidence and conviction, their inability to raise it with a trophy on the line, a feeling that’ll linger until they show they can.
75 min “Peak ponytail/man bun era was Bielsa period Leeds,” offers Jeremy Boyce. “Ayling, Phillips, Harrison, Tyler, Robert … there may have been more.”
73 min For what feels like the first time today, the cross is good, Calafiori is up, he makes good contact … but heads straight at Trrafford.
72 min Arsenal are, though, looking to play through midfield, Saka now behind Gyokeres, who’s been quiet. Madueke looks to inject pace, tearing infield, and when he’s fouled, Rice can tease in a free-kick, 25 yards out, right of centre.
70 min Arsenal just haven’t got going today. City look like a side used to winning finals, taking more risks with their positioning and in possession. They’ve now swapped Doku and Semenyo, and look more likely to score another than concede a livener.
68 min Cherki juggles with the ball on the touchline, Nani-style – that’s confidence and perhaps foolishness – so White rattles him as son as possible and is booked. On the touchline, Guardiola shakes his head – he won’t like that.
66 min Arsenal send on Calafiori and Madueke for Hincapie and Havertz.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City (O’Reilly 64)
Oh my goodness me! Nico O’Reilly, a 21-year-old left back, has scored twice in a final that may soon bear his name, and this game feels over! City work the ball really well, Doku pilfering space down the left before bringing it inside and feeding Nunes down the right, who measures a a cross to the far post, where O’Reilly gets a run on Saka to power a header into the net. He is feeling feelings, and it’s moving to watch him celebrate, youthfulness and joy personified.
62 min Arteta needs to act. If he can’t change the flow of the game, City may well score again and, as I type, Calafiori and Madueke strip.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City (O’Reilly 60)
It’s been coming, and I’m afraid the source of the goal isn’t that surprising. Bernardo finds Cherki, who crosses and, at the near post, Kepa makes a complete hash of a regulation leaping catch. The ball bounces loose, a few feet off the line, and O’Reilly is quicker to it than Zubimendi, nipping in front to duck into a low header and put City ahead.
58 min Haaland runs at Saliba like a fairy elephant; he’s easily read and unloaded. His finishing is so deft and definitive, I’m sure he can get better at other aspects of his game, but he looks like pretty much the same player he was when he joined.
57 min Again, Semenyo runs at Hincapie, who backs off, so the attacker shifts it left to open up a shooting lane before, from the edge, his low effort curls just wide. When was the last time a team had four players – Semenyo, Doku, Ake, Haaland – with ponytails?
55 min lovely feet from Bernardo, beating a couple of men just outside the box and finding Doku, whose flighted cross looks Haaland-boucd, but a defender, Hincapie I think, is up early to intervene.
54 min City continue in the ascendancy, Doku sending a low cross whizzing across the box with no one available to attack it. Arsenal are sitting back waiting for a counter or a set-piece; I’d expect them to make a change soon.
52 min Semenyo sends the free-kick miles from anywhere.
50 min Rice and Saka haven’t delivered their crosses as well as they usually do, the former taking this latest corner, which City clear, then a long diag finds Doku racing away. In what looks like a panic, Kepa charges out of his area, Doku bundles past him, and is yanked back; the ref blows when he might’ve let play continue a second or two, booking the Arsenal keeper.
49 mi Semenyo digs out a cross beyond the back post, then City retrieve possession with Cherki sliding into Semenyo, who lays off for Haaland. But, under pressure, he can’t quite poke his shot early enough, then Arsenal race down the other and win a corner that ought to have been a goalkick.
48 min “Sorry to be the cold water poured but, considering the available talent of both these squads, they are surely the most boring teams in the league,” reckons Dean Kinsella. “I saw Bob the last time he played Dublin and most of the material used was from Rough and Rowdy Ways. It’s the best album he has made for two decades and the crowd were really into it (including Shane McGowan in the front row). This roused Bob into performing the best I’ve seen him since Blackbushe way back in the mists of time. Rave on Mr Dylan.”
46 min No changes to either side, but I doubt it’ll be long before we see some. In the meantime, City are again dominating territory, Arsenal a little more proactive in rushing them.
46 min We go again…
