Arsenal and Manchester City were playing a tight game where no team allowed goals. However, the Gunners’ goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, made a huge mistake to allow the first goal of the 2026 EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Man City were on the attack and Bernardo Silva found Ryan Cherki, who sent a cross straight to Kepa’s hands. Somehow, the ball slipped between the goalkeeper’s gloves, allowing youngster Nico O’Reilly to score an easy header to open the scoreboard.
Kepa is not the usual starter, but he played throughout this tournament to give starting GK David Raya some rest. However, this is the 2026 EFL Cup final, and now manager Mikel Arteta might be regretting the decision to put Kepa in.
O’Reilly scored a second goal shortly after
Minutes after, City once again attacked from the right side to send a cross, which was once again headed in by O’Reilly. This time, there was no mistake from Kepa, but O’Reilly was all alone to put his shot right past him.
All of a sudden, this turned into an uphill battle for Arsenal, who haven’t found an answer to decipher how to create harm against City’s defense. The fact is, the Citizens have been the better team all around.
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O’Reilly is an unlikely hero for the City squad
O’Reilly scoring a brace in five minutes to give City quite the lead in the EFL Cup final was not on many bingo cards. Firstly, because O’Reilly is the left back of the team, it’s not expected for him to be so close to goal, especially twice in five minutes.
Second of all, O’Reilly had six goals in all competitions before this game, according to TransferMarkt. Having said all of this, O’Reilly is 6’3″, making him a tall player, and an aerial threat, as proven by his brace in the final.
