London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola insisted his first trophy in English football was due to the skill and dedication of his players rather than his coaching magic touch after Sunday’s 3-0 romp past Arsenal in the League Cup final.
Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva were all on the scoresheet as City lifted the trophy for the fifth time.
It was an impressive statement of intent from Guardiola’s men after a shock FA Cup defeat to lowly Wigan last week ended their bid for an unprecedented quadruple.
“It’s important. We’re so happy, and a big congratulations to all of Manchester City, and our fans. This trophy is for Manchester City and not for me,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“The first half we were not good, there were a lot of mistakes, in the second half we played with a lot more courage and personality — we were outstanding.”
For Arsenal, it was a poor afternoon with fans leaving Wembley in their droves after Silva added the third goal in the 65th minute.
“Arsenal were an absolute disgrace,” former Manchester United star Gary Neville said on Sky Sports as Gunners boss Arsene Wenger came under renewed pressure.
“You have to accept being criticised when you lose games,” Wenger said.
“But I believe we have to recover quickly. We got to the final, we lost, so now we have to focus on the next Premier League game.”
Next up for Arsenal? A home clash in the Premier League on Thursday — against City.
