Manchester City has claimed the first piece of silverware of this season, after it defeated Arsenal 2-0 to win the Carabao Cup at Wembley.

Pep Guardiola’s team saw their chances of winning the Quadruple end in midweek, after the club were eliminated from the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid.

On the other hand, the Gunners came into the game still in the hunt for four trophies.

There were no goals in the first half, as both teams sized each other up.

But City got the first goal after the break after Kepa Arizzabalaga fumbled the ball and Nico O’Reilly headed into an empty net.

O’Reilly headed in the second to seal victory for City, who remain nine points behind Arsenal in the Premier League.

MANCHESTER, England, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Manchester City bounced back after conceding an early goal to beat Chelsea 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, sparing the blushes of their debutant defender Abdukodir Khusanov whose error gifted the visitors the lead.

The win lifts Pep Guardiola’s side to fourth in the table on 41 points, 12 adrift of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, and one point ahead of Chelsea, who slip to sixth.

Uzbek Khusanov, signed this week from French side Lens, got his City career off to the worst possible start when his mistake in the third minute allowed Nicolas Jackson to steal the ball and square it for Noni Madueke to put Chelsea in front.

City struck back though, with defender Josko Gvardiol levelling three minutes before halftime and Erling Haaland putting the hosts in front after 68 minutes before Phil Foden’s breakaway goal in the 87th wrapped up the three points.

Manchester City Manager, Pep Guardiola, has admitted he holds himself accountable for the club’s disappointing form this season.

City, who have dominated the Premier League by winning four consecutive titles and six in the last seven years, now sit 14 points behind league leaders Liverpool. A 2-0 victory over Leicester on Sunday marked only their second win in 14 matches, making it the worst run of Guardiola’s illustrious managerial career, which includes successful stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“There are many aspects to being a manager, and I have missed something – something I’m not doing well,” Guardiola said.

“When you lose a lot of games, the manager carries an incredible responsibility. It’s clear there’s something the team needs, and I haven’t been able to provide it.

“The call is on me first, not the players. Naturally, they drop a little in confidence, and that’s normal. It even happened a bit last season.”

Despite City’s history of slow starts in previous title-winning campaigns, this season has seen an unprecedented drop in form.

Guardiola admitted that his inability to resolve the issues is to blame for their current predicament.

“With this lack of consistency in results, I should have figured it out,” Guardiola said.

“I am not saying this to seem noble – it is simply the truth. I lead this group, and I couldn’t lift them. That is the reality.”

Injuries have been a significant factor for City this season, including the loss of key midfielder Rodri, a recent Ballon d’Or winner.

Guardiola has repeatedly acknowledged how injuries have impacted the team but insists he could have done more to adapt.

“We were the only unbeaten team in Europe until October 30, 2024 and were top of the league,” Guardiola explained.

“But after that, we declined, due to injuries and many other factors we have discussed. Even so, I should have found a way to achieve better results.”

Manchester City, now seeking to recover their form, will face West Ham at 15:00 GMT on Saturday. (Credit BBC)

Manchester, England, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to first-half goals by Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.

After back-to-back league defeats, City were cruising to victory but Ansu Fati’s 73rd-minute reply for Brighton threatened to make it an anxious finale at the Etihad Stadium.

Alvarez opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a scuffed shot following great work by Jeremy Doku.

With influential midfielder Rodri back from suspension, City dominated the first half and Haaland took advantage of sloppy Brighton play to smash in City’s second after 19 minutes.

City should have added to their total but Brighton made things interesting when Fati slotted home and the hosts ended with 10 men after Manuel Akanji was shown a second yellow card deep in stoppage time.

Akanji will miss next week’s Manchester derby.

Victory lifted champions City back to the top of the table with 21 points from nine games, although Arsenal could go top with a win at Chelsea in a later kickoff.

There was clear relief after almost 10 minutes of stoppage time for City’s players and manager Pep Guardiola who had only lost three successive league games once in his career.

City were not back to their fluent best but Brighton, who dropped to seventh, deserve credit for the way they stretched the hosts after such a poor start.

Doku was again preferred to Jack Grealish and the Belgian’s pace was a constant thorn in Brighton’s side.

It was his teasing run down the left and cut back that helped City open the scoring although Alvarez’s strike was far from flush but evaded Jason Steele.

Haaland had gone almost a month without a goal for City but he needed no second invitation to end that dry spell as Brighton made a mess of a throw-in deep in their own half and the Norwegian was allowed through to fire past Steele for his 45th Premier League goal in 44 games.

Manchester City were confirmed as Premier League champions for the fifth time in six seasons on Saturday without even having to kick a ball after second-placed Arsenal’s challenge ended in defeat away at Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal, who enjoyed an eight-point lead over City as recently as mid-March, needed at least a point to stay mathematically in the hunt, but went down 1-0.

City, who host Chelsea on Sunday after which they will be presented with the trophy, have 85 points with three games to play, while Arsenal are on 81 with one game left.

It is City’s seventh Premier League title since they were bought by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008 and they are now just two wins away from completing a treble only previously achieve by Manchester United in 1999.

City face Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and a week later take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final — starting big favourites in both games.

Manager Pep Guardiola has now won a total of 12 trophies since being hired by City in 2016.

While Arsenal have threatened to knock City off their perch this season, it all proved an illusion in the end as Guardiola’s side again proved relentless in the run-in.

Since losing to Tottenham Hotspur on Feb. 5 they have taken 40 points from the next 42 on offer and have 11 successive league games, beating Arsenal comprehensively home and away.

If City win their last three games they will reach 94 points, not as many as the totals they achieved in 2017-18 and 2018-19, Guardiola’s first two league titles.

But the way they have finished the season suggests the gap between them and the rest is widening.

City have now joined an elite group of clubs to win three successive English top-flight titles, with Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United the only others.

The club’s website featured animated tickertape flittering down the screen with a live video showing an enormous banner being unfurled down the side of the Etihad Stadium stating “Three in a Row”.

Club captain Ilkay Gundogan described the latest title as something “very special”.

“The Premier League is without doubt the most demanding and competitive league in the world so that tells you everything about what an achievement this is,” he said.

“This squad is so talented and so special and to have been captain this season has been an enormous privilege.

“To have won this trophy three times in a row and five times in six years is incredible. That quality and consistency helps sum up what Manchester City stand for and ensures the club will continue to strive for success going forward.”

While City have once again underlined their dominance in England, there remains a cloud on their sky blue horizon.

City were charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations from 2009 to 2018 and could face severe punishments if found guilty.

The club said at the time they welcomed the review and insist they have “irrefutable evidence” to support their position.

Arsenal will have to be content with the runners-up spot and a return to the Champions League after a five-year absence.

But manager Mikel Arteta will have much to ponder as he analyses how the Gunners buckled under City’s relentless pressure. Defeat at Forest means Arsenal have won only two of their last eight matches in the league. (Reuters)

Manchester, Jan. 28, 2023: Manchester City defender Nathan Ake struck in the second half to earn his side a hard-fought 1-0 victory over visitors Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round.

The current top two teams in the 2022/2023 English Premier League (EPL) cancelled each other out in the first half on Friday.

Erling Haaland twice went close for Manchester City, while pacesetters Arsenal forced home goalkeeper Stefan Ortega into two fine saves to keep them at bay.

Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola brought Julian Alvarez off the bench early in the second half, with the Argentina striker playing a big part in the winner.

He fired against the post before Ake slotted home from the follow-up in the 64th minute.

Arsenal’s coach Mikel Arteta rang the changes in search of a leveller but they could not break Manchester City’s resistance.

The hosts progressed to remain in the hunt to win the domestic trophy Guardiola has claimed just once during his time in England.

Arsenal started the brightest at the Etihad in spite of making six changes to the side that beat Manchester United last weekend.

January signing Leandro Trossard from Brighton & Hove Albion looked lively, setting up an early opening for Takehiro Tomiyasu, who was denied by Ortega.

Haaland, eyeing his 32nd goal in all competitions in a remarkable debut season in England, was feeding off scraps.

All he needed was a half-chance and the striker used his pace to capitalise on two Arsenal errors but was unable to find the net.

Kevin De Bruyne curled a shot wide, but it was Trossard who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening period, bringing out a fine one-handed stop from Ortega.

Manchester City upped the ante after the break, finally wearing Arsenal down as Dutch defender Ake showed the finishing skills of a striker.

He calmly found the bottom corner after Alvarez’s effort had thundered against the upright.

With their main attention clearly elsewhere, Arsenal did not offer enough to find an equaliser.

With the Premier League the priority, fewer games in a congested season could benefit the London side’s quest for the big prize.(Reuters)

Quickfire goals by Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva helped Manchester City recover from two goals down to draw 3-3 with Newcastle United in a rip-roaring Premier League clash on Sunday.

Neither side had conceded a goal in the league this season but Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for champions Manchester City in the fifth minute at St. James’ Park.

This was after he ghosted in and caught the Newcastle United defence flat-footed before finishing from close range.

But Manchester City should have gone two up in the 16th minute.

This was when Phil Foden attacked down the right, and he chose to shoot from a tight angle rather than squaring the ball to Haaland for the chance to be wasted.

The home side levelled through Miguel Almiron in the 28th minute as he bundled a pinpoint cross from Allan Saint-Maximin into the net.

He however had to endure a nervous VAR check which allowed the goal to stand.

Saint-Maximin tormented Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker and he put Newcastle United in position to pull off a huge upset when he set up Callum Wilson to make it 2-1 before half-time.

A brilliant free-kick by Kieran Trippier nine minutes after the break put them 3-1 ahead.

That sparked Manchester City into life, however, with Haaland hitting a post before pulling a goal back on the hour mark.

Silva then converted a glorious pass from Kevin De Bruyne to make it 3-3.

Newcastle United’s challenge looked set to come unstuck when Trippier was shown a straight red card for a cynical high trip on De Bruyne.

But after a VAR review the decision was overturned and he was given a yellow card.

Manchester City dominated possession in the final stages but had to settle for a draw that left them second in the table on seven points, two behind leaders Arsenal.

Newcastle United are sixth on five points.

“We scored the third goal in the 64th minute, and it was very early. I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t score the fourth. But still, a good reaction from the team,” Silva told reporters.

Trippier was disappointed his side only came away with a point.

“We want to go toe to toe with them and I thought we did that throughout the match.

“But Manchester City are a top side and they have the quality of the players to get themselves back into the game,” he told reporters. (Reuters)