City win is shot across the bow

As Pep Guardiola wiped away the sting of the champagne sprayed by his jubilant players after Sunday's League Cup final triumph against Arsenal, the Manchester City boss was confronted with a burning question.

Nico O'Reilly's second-half double had just sealed a 2-0 win in the Wembley showpiece, handing City a psychological boost at the expense of its Premier League title rival.

But will Guardiola's record fifth League Cup serve as a catalyst to catch Arsenal in the title race?

The City boss, who hadn't masterminded a victory over his old assistant Mikel Arteta since 2023, knows beating Arsenal in a one-off showpiece occasion is difficult enough.

Finding a way to overhaul the Premier League leader, which holds a nine-point advantage over second-placed City, is an even more daunting proposition.

"I would like to have nine points in front of Arsenal," Guardiola said.

"I said to the players: 'Today, we are going to see what our level is.' They are the best so far, no doubt about that, so let's prove ourselves, and, in the second half, I could not believe we could do it against Arsenal.

"But this win will have no impact (on the title race). It is a different competition."

City has a game in hand on Arsenal and hosts the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in April.

Yet Guardiola acknowledged that even winning those two matches won't be enough for City unless Arsenal slips up elsewhere.

"They will be more controlled when they come to the Etihad. Maybe for that game it will help us, but the Premier League is in their hands," he said.

"Is that team going to drop points? We will try to win our games and then see what happens."

After recent damaging draws in the league against lowly West Ham and Nottingham Forest, as well as a limp Champions League last-16 exit against Real Madrid, Guardiola's men badly needed a trophy to lift the mood at the Etihad.

They went without silverware last term, but Guardiola believes this can be the start of a new era for the club, which has accumulated 19 trophies in all competitions since he arrived a decade ago.

"When you start to win and the generation is young, you can continue that. I need to know how they behave in certain moments," Guardiola said of a team expensively revamped in the last 18 months.

"I can sense something that can flourish. Winning helps to anticipate the process.

"We are much better than last season, but we are still not the team we should be. That requires time. Hopefully, by the end of next season, we will be."

Arsenal went into the final as a firm favorite as it chased its first trophy in six years. But, it departed still waiting for the second major prize of the Arteta era, assailed with questions about the manager's selections and tactics, as well as a recurring habit of choking on the big stage.

Runner-up in the Premier League for the last three seasons, the Gunners cannot afford to let the Wembley defeat impact the rest of their now treble-chasing campaign.

Arteta's decision to pick Kepa Arrizabalaga instead of regular goalkeeper David Raya backfired when the understudy fumbled Rayan Cherki's cross for O'Reilly to bag City's first goal.

Arteta's conservative game plan also came under fire, but the Arsenal boss vowed his team would use the pain to fuel its bid for a first league title since 2004.

"We need to have some perspective. We are going to use this disappointment and this fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months that we have ever had together," said Artet