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PEP GUARDIOLA won the first trophy of his Manchester City reign thanks to the 'Old Guard'.

Much has been made of the way the former Barcelona chief has transformed the club since taking charge in summer 2016.

Manchester City are Carabao Cup champions after dismantling Arsenal
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Manchester City are Carabao Cup champions after dismantling ArsenalCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany proudly holds Carabao Cup with team-mates
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Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany proudly holds Carabao Cup with team-matesCredit: AP:Associated Press

But Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva - three players with almost 25 years at the Etihad between them - got the goals to win this one.

Arsenal had a good early chance when Mesut Ozil rolled over a cross for Pierre Emerick Aubameyang whose shot was well saved by Claudio Bravo.

He was under pressure from Kyle Walker and he did enough to put the Arsenal new boy off with the rebound too.

Sergio Aguero fired a shot into the side-netting and that turned out to be a sighter for the City hero.

Gary Neville blasts Arsenal players as young fan cries during League Cup final defeat to Manchester City
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hopes the Carabao Cup is the first of three this season
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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hopes the Carabao Cup is the first of three this seasonCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Sergio Aguero lobbed Manchester City into the lead after some laughable Arsenal defending
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Sergio Aguero lobbed Manchester City into the lead after some laughable Arsenal defendingCredit: Reuters
 One long punt from Claudio Bravo was pounced on by Sergio Aguero who dinked it home
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One long punt from Claudio Bravo was pounced on by Sergio Aguero who dinked it homeCredit: Reuters
 Defender Vincent Kompany scored the second for Manchester City
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Defender Vincent Kompany scored the second for Manchester CityCredit: Carl Recine
 David Silva scored Manchester City's third goal to kill Arsenal
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David Silva scored Manchester City's third goal to kill ArsenalCredit: Carl Recine

A few minutes later Bravo sent a straight ball down the middle and Aguero shook off Shkodran Mustafi far too easily.

He went through the middle before lobbing effortlessly over David Ospina - who was caught in no man's land.

Raheem Sterling and Benjamin Mendy celebrate on the Wembley pitch after Manchester City beat Arsenal in League Cup final


JESS THE MAN Manchester United 2 Chelsea 1: Jesse Lingard with United winner as Mourinho gets one over on Conte


INTERACTIVE STATS - CLICK on the categories to find out how the teams fared 

It was a 30th of the season for Aguero - and his 199th for City.

Aubameyang looked to be through on goal late in the first half but City skipper Vincent Kompany got back to make a superb tackle.

Early in the second half Bravo and Walker got in a mess chasing the same ball but Aubamayeng fouled the City keeper as he tried to get onto it.

Manchester City's attack vs Arsenal's defence
 Arsene Wenger had bigger things to worry about with his side defending poorly
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Arsene Wenger had bigger things to worry about with his side defending poorlyCredit: Getty Images - Getty
 Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola had a row at the cup final
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Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola had a row at the cup finalCredit: Getty Images - Getty

INTERACTIVE LINE-UPS– CLICK on a player’s number below to see their stats

And City looked to have made it safe just before the hour as Kevin de Bruyne played a corner to Bernardo Silva on the edge of the box.

His shot looked harmless but Kompany stuck out a boot to wrong foot Ospina and send the fans behind that goal wild.

What a moment for the skipper who has endured such a nightmare few years due to injuries.

And just minutes later it was all over as Danilo slipped through David Silva and he turned Calum Chambers superbly before firing low past Ospina.

 

 Claudio Bravo created the opener for Sergio Aguero with a goal-kick
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Claudio Bravo created the opener for Sergio Aguero with a goal-kickCredit: Reuters

Pep Guardiola said: “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.

"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."

Replay of Sergio Aguero push on Shkodran Mustafi

Arsene Wenger said:  "You have to accept being criticised when you lose games. 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."

"When you lose 3-0 of course you have to look at defending better, but I still feel like for large periods we defended well, but we lost concentration sometimes and against good teams you pay for it.

"It's not the application that was missed it was the concentration at key periods that was missed. The second goal was a big goal in this game and for me, it was 100 per cent offside.

"We analyse all the games in a very mathematical way, we didn't give too many chances away, but we gave away easy chances, and didn't create enough for ourselves."

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