Manchester City clinched their first silverware of the season by beating Liverpool on penalties in the final of the Capital One Cup at Wembley Stadium.
Fernandinho opened the scoring just after halftime as the Sky Blues dominated proceedings. It took Liverpool until the 83rd minute to come up with a response, when Phillipe Coutinho put the ball past Willy Caballero to take the game into extra-time. City had the better chances throughout the game, but could not find a way past Simon Mignolet as the added periods ended scoreless, meaning that the final would be settled on penalties.
It was the Citizens who held their nerve, claiming the shootout by to lift their first trophy in nearly 20 months.
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City getting back on track
After being knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea last week, the Sky Blues bounced back extremely well in the Champions League when they beat Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 in Ukraine. There was a notable improvement in the team that lost three straight games, with the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure being the main influence in their team’s rejuvenation. Even though it took a penalty shootout to defeat Liverpool, Pellegrini’s men were undoubtedly the much better team on the night and managed an impressive 19 shots, of which nine were on target.
The manager has definitely got his team to up the ante in the past couple of games and they will now hope to carry on that form for the remainder of the campaign. There are still possibilities of winning two other competitions with sights firmly set on the Champions league and the Premier leagues.
4 – Manchester City have now won four of their five League Cup finals (1970, 1976, 2014 and 2016). Congratulations. #CapitalOneCupFinal
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 28, 2016
A goalkeeper’s night
One would think that that the spotlight in a cup final would belong to strikers and midfielders, but it was not the case in this game. Both goalkeepers were on top form at Wembley and produced some outstanding saves. While Liverpool custodian Mignolet took majority of the blame for City’s opener after he let Fernandinho’s shot past him rather easily, but the Belgian more the made up for his mistake by producing a string of fine saves for the rest of the game. He was responsible for keeping his side alive after City went all-out in attack.
If Mignolet was the hero over the 120 minutes, there was no doubt who the hero of the penalty shootout was. City’s stand-in Caballero repaid the faith his manager showed by saving three straight spot-kicks from the opposition, leaving Yaya Toure to net the decided. The Argentine saved attempts from Lucas Leiva, Coutinho and Adam Lallana, the last of which was a fantastic save to deny the Englishman. After a disappointing outing against Chelsea in his last game that saw his side concede five, the 34-year-old looks to have regained his confidence. A night to remember for both goalkeepers.
Where do Liverpool go from here?
Jurgen Klopp will surely be disappointed to be denied his first tophy in English football and it could well be his last chance this season. The Reds were knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham earlier this month, although they are still in with a chance to win the Europa League, but will first have to get past rivals Manchester United in the Round of 16. The Premier league is now surely out of the reach of Liverpool and European qualification will also be an uphill challenge. Klopp’s side currently sit in ninth position in the league and are nine points off a Champions League spot.
The Reds will face Man City next yet again, this time in the league when they welcome them to Anfield in two days’ time. Liverpool have a relatively easier fixture list, but they will be sure not to take things too lightly as Klopp will aim to end the season on a high note and maybe even a trophy.
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