That’s it for today’s blog. I’ll leave you with our match report from Wembley, and you can chat about the game below the line. Thanks for your company and emails, and congratulations to the City fans. Bye!
Here’s Riyad Mahrez
“It was a tough game, we knew it would be. We stayed focussed, we kept dominating and passing the ball, and then we scored. I think we deserved to win today. We get the trophy again and we are very happy. The fans made a massive difference – it’s so good to have them back. Even with 8,000, the atmosphere was amazing.”
The official Man of the Match is Riyad Mahrez. He did play well, and a couple of his first touches were pornographic, but I thought Foden and Alderweireld were slightly better.
Fernandinho, who has now won this competition six times, lifts the Carabao Cup for Manchester City. They’re a sensational team, who have been irresistible since that extraordinary start at Chelsea in the first week of January. Two trophies down, if you include the Premier League, one to go. It’s the one they want the most.
The Laporte red card that never was
He should have been booked for a tactical foul on Lucas Moura in the 25th minute. Then he was booked for a tactical foul on the same player in the 45th minute. But <Buncey>let’s get this right</Buncey>, there is no way he would have committed the second foul if he was on a yellow card, so I don’t think it’s right to say he should have been sent off. What we can say is that, had he been booked for the first foul, Lucas Moura would have been away in the second incident and Spurs would have had a three-on-two attack.
Here’s the goalscorer Aymeric Laporte, who probably wouldn’t have played had John Stones not been sent off at Villa
“We are so happy to win this title again. It is very special for us because we lost in the FA Cup last weekend. We have been so, so good in the last few months, and we have to keep this rhythm if we want to win more titles. We are so happy to see the supporters here.”
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LAPORTE HEADS CITY IN FRONT!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) April 25, 2021
Aymeric Laporte beats Sissoko to De Bruyne's cross and nods it home. Will that be the winner? 🏆
Watch live now on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/FP1goDrF3J
LAPORTE HEADS CITY IN FRONT!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) April 25, 2021
Aymeric Laporte beats Sissoko to De Bruyne's cross and nods it home. Will that be the winner? 🏆
Watch live now on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/FP1goDrF3J
It’s the third major final that Harry Kane has lost with Spurs. You have to feel for him, and for most of the Spurs players - especially Toby Alderweireld, who had a quite outstanding game in defence. He was my player of the match, though you can make an equally good case for giving it to Phil Foden.
Pep Guardiola turns to applaud the 2,000 City fans. The players get into a huddle and bounce around. Ilkay Gundogan, a class act, and Phil Foden walk over to console a tearful Spurs player; I’m not sure who it is. It might have been Son, who is in tears.
Full time: Manchester City 1-0 Spurs
Peep peep! Manchester City win the Carabao Cup for the fourth year in a row, equalling the record set by Liverpool between 1981-84. They had to be patient – the winner from Aymeric Laporte didn’t come until the 82nd minute – but ultimately they were far too good for a limited Spurs.
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90+1 min Alderweireld makes yet another vital block - this time from Foden, who danced beautifully away from a defender in the area.
90+1 min Three minutes of added time. City are keeping the ball with ease.
90 min Steven Bergwijn replaces Serge Aurier, who had a fine game... until he buggered it all up with a silly tackle on Raheem Sterling that led to the goal.
90 min Spurs are done, they’ve got nothing left, physically or mentally.
89 min Foden’s outswinging corner is headed wide by Laporte.
88 min The second half has been more even, but overall City fully deserve to win.
86 min Reguilon’s low cross is booted away at the near post. City make another change: Bernardo Silva replaces Kevin De Bruyne.
85 min Alderweireld makes another brilliant block from De Bruyne, who marauded past a couple of Spurs defenders into the area. Moments later, Dier makes a very good block from Sterling. Those two have been outstanding.
84 min A substitution apiece: Rodri for Fernandinho, Dele Alli for Hojbjerg.
83 min There’s an argument that both De Bruyne, who made the goal, and Laporte, who scored it, should have been sent off. It’s not a particularly strong one, but I suspect we’ll hear it after the game,
Updated
All that beautiful football, and City score from a set piece. It was Sissoko who was marking Laporte; he didn’t do a great job of it. Laporte got up first, ahead of Sissoko, and steered the header past Hojbjerg on the line.
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Spurs (Laporte 82)
De Bruyne flips the free-kick in, and Laporte gets in front of his man to head past Lloris from six yards!
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81 min A silly challenge from Aurier on Sterling gives City a free-kick on the left wing.
81 min Phil Foden’s dribbling in tight areas is so accomplished. One such run begins a move that ends when Cancelo’s cross is headed away.
80 min Spurs have done extremely well to restrict City to three shots on target. I don’t know whether Jose Mourinho will be proud of or irritated by their defensive excellence.
77 min Reguilon tries to run Walker and falls over just outside the area. I thought that was a foul; Paul Tierney didn’t.
75 min “Do you get extra pay if the match goes to extra time and pens?” asks Mike MacKenzie. “Silly question, no doubt, given the Man’s tendencies. Maybe you guys need an MBM union?”
We don’t, but sometimes we get an extra biscuit.
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73 min: Fine save from Lloris! Mahrez slaloms elegantly infield, away from Hojbjerg and then Winks on the edge of the D. That gives him the room to whip a shot towards the bottom corner, and Lloris gets down very smartly to his right to push it away.
73 min City won’t be thrilled at the prospect of extra-time, especially with PSG away on Wednesday.
72 min Gundogan misses a reasonable opportunity, shinning a volley wide from Sterling’s short cross.
71 min Foden’s corner is cleared by the indefatigable Hojbjerg. Mahrez picks up the loose ball and feeds De Bruyne, whose very deep cross is headed straight at Lloris by Fernandinho. The angle was pretty tight, so he couldn’t have done much more.
Updated
70 min De Bruyne’s cross is headed up and over his own bar by Dier, who has quietly had a very good game.
69 min City do have Aguero and Jesus on the bench. For now, Pep is happy with the false strike partnership of Foden and De Bruyne.
68 min If this goes to extra time and penalties, it had better finish before Line of Duty.
67 min A double change for Spurs: Moussa Sissoko and Gareth Bale replace Lo Celso and the effervescent Lucas Moura.
65 min Lucas Moura goes on another charge infield before falling over after a challenge from Fernandinho. Spurs thought it was a foul; Paul Tierney didn’t.
65 min It’s still 0-0.
63 min Lo Celso plays a superb pass through the lines to find Kane on the halfway line. He runs to the edge of the D and then plays in Hojbjerg to his left. Hojbjerg moves into the area, a long way out of his comfort zone, and then overhits a simple pass to the overlapping Reguilon. The wrong option, poorly executed: he should have had a shot.
61 min Mahrez’s floated cross is headed over from close range by the backpedalling Gundogan. That was another tricky chance as he had to scamper backwards and then jump backwards to head it.
60 min Aurier is robbed by Sterling, but makes up for his error with a vital touch when Sterling bursts into the area.
59 min Fernandinho is booked for a cynical foul on Hojbjerg.
58 min Ryan Mason will be much happier with how the second half is going. City are still the more dangerous team but at least Spurs are spending some quality time in the City half.
57 min Sterling plays in the underlapping Cancelo, whose cross is too close to Lloris.
55 min Sterling opens his body and curls a few yards wide of the far post. That attempt was pretty similar to the goal he scored in the Champions League classic a couple of years ago, except that one went in.
54 min But every Spurs attack is a chance for a City counter. Mahrez leads this one, twisting Reguilon inside out in the area before hitting a right-footed shot that is blocked by Dier.
53 min Spurs have had more attacks in the first eight minutes of the second half than they did in the first 45.
51 min Spurs have made a much brighter start to the second half.
48 min City break menacingly from the Spurs corner. De Bruyne cuts inside and shapes to shoot with his left foot, but Lo Celso nips in front of him to poke the ball away. De Bruyne ends up booting Lo Celso instead. Free-kick to Spurs and no punishment for De Bruyne, even though it was not dissimilar to the Balbuena red card yesterday.
Updated
47 min: Good save from Steffen! Spurs almost take the lead at the start of the second half. Lucas Moura played a simple square pass to Lo Celso, 25 yards from goal. He opened his body and shaped a lovely curling shot towards the far corner. Steffen dived a long way to his right to push it round the post.
46 min Peep peep! Spurs begin the second half.
“Rather than a final between two top-flight clubs, this feels like David vs Goliath,” says Colum Farrelly Fordham. “But we all know how that ended up so perhaps, just conceivably, if Lucas Moura manages to conjure up a miracle or Harry Kane gets to touch the ball in his own half, Spurs could just nick this and Ryan Mason’s fairytale debut would be made.”
Updated
FODEN HITS THE POST 💥
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) April 25, 2021
Manchester City are all over Tottenham. Can they take advantage?
Watch live now on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/HrIjSfcJ8s
Half-time reading
Half time: Manchester City 0-0 Spurs
Peep peep! A completely one-sided half ends with the scores level. City have played some exhilarating football and could easily be two or three ahead. Spurs’ only threat has been the direct running of Lucas Moura, but every time he gets up a head of steam he is taken out by a City player.
45+1 min Mahrez wanders infield and finds Cancelo, the left-back, on the edge of the area. He curls a shot towards the near post that Lloris pushes behind at full stretch. I’m not certain it was on target but Lloris couldn’t take any chances.
45+1 min One minute of added time.
45 min Laporte, who should have been booked earlier, is booked this time for another tactical foul on Lucas Moura near the halfway line. That was a vital foul because, had Moura got past him, Spurs would have had a three-on-two.
42 min City have had nine shots to Spurs’ one, but so far none of them have been on target.
41 min A stunning long pass from De Bruyne, flipped over the head of Dier, just evades the stretching Sterling on the six-yard line.
Updated
40 min Son earns a breather, also known in some cultures as a corner, for Spurs. Lo Celso’s delivery is poor and De Bruyne clears at the near post.
Updated
38 min While City have been frightening for most of this first half, I don’t think Lloris has had a save to make. It’s on! (Legal disclaimer: it may not actually be on.)
37 min Mahrez has another pop, this time flashing a curler just wide from 25 yards. That was a beautiful effort. Lloris definitely didn’t have that one covered.
36 min Riyad Mahrez’s first touch is a thing of rare beauty.
35 min Cancelo spanks a crossfield pass to Mahrez, who controls it majestically on the bounce. Then he runs at Reguilon, shifts the ball onto his left foot and hits a booming curler just wide of the far post. I think Lloris had it covered, though I wouldn’t bet my last Rolo on it.
Updated
33 min Taking the positives, Spurs department: it’s still 0-0.
32 min Dias is wrongly penalised for a good tackle on Kane - but having been penalised, he should have been booked. Ryan Mason and Pep Guardiola have an animated but friendly discussion about it on the touchline.
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30 min: Just wide from Sterling! Fernandinho slides a pass down the inside-left channel towards Foden. It runs away from him and into the area, where Sterling gets to the loose ball just ahead of Lloris. He stabs a first-time shot over Lloris with his left foot, trying to spin it back into the far corner. It’s a clever effort but he doesn’t get enough spin on the ball and it drifts wide of the far post.
Updated
30 min Spurs keep trying to play through the City press, and keep losing the ball. I don’t know whether they’re brave, foolhardy or both.
28 min I wonder what Harry Kane makes of all this. I’m not sure he has touched the ball.
27 min Reguilon, who has had a dreadful start to the game, is booked for taking out De Bruyne.
Updated
26 min: Foden hits the post! City won the ball high up the field after a loose pass from Dier. De Bruyne’s cross from the right was half cleared by Alderweireld, stretching towards his own goal. It fell to Foden, eight yards out, and he smacked a shot that hit Alderweireld and deflected onto the outside of the post!
Updated
25 min Laporte is exceedingly fortunate not to be booked for a tactical foul on Lucas Moura.
23 min De Bruyne smacks the free-kick into the wall.
22 min “Hi Rob,” says Stewart Bowling. “As another legacy, and probably legless, fan whatever the result today, who has supported Tottenham since my dad first introduced me to Spurs in the 60s, I agree entirely with Richard Hirst. While I’m glad to have seen some cup wins in the glory days and intermittently over the years, my two most abiding memories are: watching the Champions League final with my wife in New York where we now live, knowing our two daughters (aged 20 and 18) were proudly wearing their Spurs shirts like us at the same time while miles away in Los Angeles and Arles in France, respectively; and taking my younger daughter to the new WHL to watch the game vs. Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Two defeats, but that’s not really what matters to anyone who truly knows and understands the game, whichever team you support.”
22 min De Bruyne is fouled 22 yards from goal by Lo Celso. The free-kick is slightly to the left of centre, a great position for De Bruyne or Gundogan.
20 min Son’s corner is punched away by Steffen. Spurs regain possession and eventually Alderweireld drives wide from 20 yards.
19 min Spurs’ first decent attack. Winks plays a good ball to Aurier, whose excellent deep cross is headed behind for a corner by Dias.
18 min City have had 78 per cent of the possession so far.
17 min Foden beats Lo Celso with delightful close control and a change of pace before being flattened by Reguilon. That could have been a yellow card.
Updated
15 min Mahrez’s deep cross is volleyed wide by Sterling. This has been a devastatingly good start from City.
14 min: Vital block from Dier! Foden gets to the byline on the left and screws the ball back to Sterling, eight yards from goal. He takes a touch and hits a shot on the turn that is blocked by Dier in the six-yard box. Lloris wouldn’t have saved that.
Updated
13 min Spurs have barely crossed the halfway line.
11 min Corner to City on the right. Mahrez’s overhit inswinger almost catches out Lloris, who backpedals across his line to flap it away.
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10 min Spurs’ two banks of three are narrow when they don’t have the ball, which means City’s full-backs are always in space. Hojbjerg is having to come across to deal with Cancelo, which means more gaps in the middle.
8 min Mahrez’s chipped cross is headed wide at the near post by Sterling, under pressure from Alderweireld. This is looking really ominous for Spurs.
7 min Cancelo beats Hojbjerg through sleight of hip and plays the ball down the left to Sterling. He cuts inside Aurier, just inside the area, and then forces a cross towards the near post. Foden gets to the ball first and screws a shot just wide of the near post. It was a half chance at best.
6 min City are inevitably dominating possession. They are also pressing Spurs very high up the pitch, attempting to smother them until they can take it no longer.
5 min “Should Spurs win, I do hope they send a medal to Jose,” says Matt Dony. “After all, as I’m sure most Spurs fans would agree, he did all the hard work in getting them here...”
4 min A dreadful pass from Son goes straight to Sterling, 30 yards from goal. He surges into the area and is tackled crucially by Aurier. It was a risky tackle, from the wrong side, but he got it right.
Updated
3 min A quiet start, nothing to report except good old tactics.
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2 min These are the revised formations - City are playing with two false nines in Foden and De Bruyne. I think. It’s not always easy to tell.
Man City (4-2-4-0) Steffen; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Fernandinho, Gundogan; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden, Sterling.
Substitutes: Ederson, Ake, Jesus, Aguero, Zinchenko, Rodri, Bernardo, Torres, Mendy.
Spurs (4-3-3) Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon;Hojbjerg, Winks, Lo Celso; Lucas Moura, Kane, Son.
Substitutes: Hart, Sanchez, Tanganga, Sissoko, Dele, Ndombele, Lamela, Bergwijn, Bale.
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1 min Spurs have started with Lucas Moura on the right and Giovani Lo Celso in midfield. It looks like Kevin De Bruyne is playing as the false nine for City.
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1 min Peep peep! City, in their sky blue home shirt, kick off from left to right. Spurs are wearing their dark green change strip.
Ryan Mason looks tranquil, if a little self-conscious, on the Spurs bench. If Spurs win today, he’s going straight into folklore.
There will be a minute’s silence before the game in memory of the European Super League.
The teams stroll into the sunshine. It’s a gorgeous evening at Wembley, and the 8,000 fans are making an admirable noise.
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Pep’s pre-match thoughts
“Welcome back to the fans. We’re happy to see them, and we’ll try to win. [On his team selection, 72 hours before PSG] It’s always a strong team that we select. Are you saying the guys we play aren’t strong enough?
“[On Spurs and Ryan Mason] Every manager has his own ideas. We saw the game against Southampton. We expect an aggressive team, high pressing; we know they want to play when they have the ball. They have pace up front and movement in behind. Since I’ve been here, Scpurs has always been a tough game.”
It’s just not football
If you like cricket, and you love Haseeb Hameed, you’ll really love this: he’s just made his second century of the match against Worcestershire.
The pre-match thoughts of Ryan Mason
“It would have been hard to imagine this a week ago. That’s football: things happen that you don’t expect. You have to be ready and prepared, and thankfully I have been. It’s been a good, positive week – Wednesday’s win over Southampton was important for us – and we’re looking forward to today.
“Harry said he’s fit, so that’s enough for me. He’s trained with the group and he’s ready to go. Hopefully we can create a bit of history.”
We are really here
It's great to see you back guys! 👋💙
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/lYYnzBQM1N
“Now that we’ve lived through Jose and Poch, I think most Spurs fans can agree that the Poch era was a lot more fun,” writes Daniel Le- Alex Porritt. “Building something and seeing it grow, a likeable squad and a likeable manager who took us to where we could see the summit, even if we didn’t quite make it. To many, the very essence of Spurrsy. As a Spurs fan, I’d take another six or seven years of that - I’ll even put up with the endless ‘lads, it’s Tottenham’ in the comments section.”
“Hi Rob,” says Richard Hirst. “With two of the ‘Big Six’ meeting to decide a trophy I thought I’d share the reflections the past few days have occasioned.
“I first went to see Fulham in 1965, in the old First Division, so I think I qualify as a legacy fan. What the owners, and I suspect, with respect, some of the fans of the big six don’t understand is that following football is not only, or even primarily about success (let alone money). “Since those first days Fulham followed a largely downward trajectory, punctuated by the odd period of comparative success (eg the 1975 FA Cup final), leading to the moment in 1994 when I stood in a car park in Swansea, with my five-year-old daughter in tears, because defeat had consigned us to the lowest division for the first time in our history. Things continued to get worse - we were 91st in the Football League at one point - until fortunes turned around and I celebrated with my 29-year-old daughter at Wembley when we won the 2018 playoff final. (And did I mention that we nearly lost the ground and the club itself in the mid-80s, so we are no strangers to greedy and incompetent owners.) “Winning trophies is not the point. I did not cry when we lost the 1975 Cup final or the 2010 Europa League final (although of course I would have been delighted if we had won): I cried when I saw my team walk out at Wembley and when I stood looking at an empty Hamburg stadium and thought, my team are going to be walking out in a European final in two hours’ time. Something I never imagined could happen was about to become a reality. “If I was the offered the opportunity to go back to 1965 and support a team that was going to win trophies would I do it? Of course not, it’s the dream and the love that count, and sharing them with your 5/29 year old daughter.”
Very nicely put. I think every legacy fan (sic) has had similar moments, even though who support one of the Piggish Six.
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The teams in (possible) formation
Man City (4-3-3) Steffen; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.
Substitutes: Ederson, Ake, Jesus, Aguero, Zinchenko, Rodri, Bernardo, Torres, Mendy.
Spurs (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Winks, Hojbjerg; Lo Celso, Lucas Moura, Son; Kane.
Substitutes: Hart, Sanchez, Tanganga, Sissoko, Dele, Ndombele, Lamela, Bergwijn, Bale.
Referee Paul Tierney.
Updated
Team news: Harry Kane starts for Spurs!
As do Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling for City. The long list of substitutes includes Gareth Bale, Tanguy Ndombele, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva.
The boys going into battle! 💙
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2021
XI | Steffen, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
SUBS | Ederson, Ake, Jesus, Aguero, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Torres, Mendy
⚽️ @HaysWorldwide
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/H41AwZZNMp
𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 ⚪️ Lloris (C), Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon, Højbjerg, Winks, Lo Celso, Lucas, Son, Kane.#CarabaoCupFinal ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/J88a3Jyehy
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 25, 2021
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Scorchio department
Today's Wembley weather report! ☀️👌
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klUGiM pic.twitter.com/x5FRYEW6TI
We're on our way to Wembley!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 25, 2021
👔 #SuitedByBOSS #CarabaoCupFinal ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/ETmhX6IClk
Pre-match reading
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of the Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, which will be played in front of 8,000 legless fa- sorry, legacy fans at Wembley. The suits may not care for this competition but the players sure do. Especially City’s: they are aiming to win this competition for the fourth time in a row, which would equal Liverpool’s record, and for the sixth time in eight years.
The last time they lost a Carabao Cup game was in October 2016, to a team managed by Jose Mourinho. He should have been there today, dropping passive-aggressive bombs, but he was sacked on Monday when Daniel Levy decided the risk of winning a trophy was too great. As a result, Ryan Mason (age: 29, managerial experience: 1 game) will be up against one of the greatest coaches of all time. It would have been a cracking story had Mourinho won; it’ll be an even better story if Mason does so.
One of the first things taught on the banter curriculum is that Spurs haven’t won anything since 2008. City’s last trophy was 13 months rather than 13 years ago, a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in last year’s final. They are huge favourites to win this game, even though Spurs are one of only five teams to beat them this season.
That 2-0 win in November – when Jose was back and Pep’s City were finished – was inspired by the unique brilliance of Harry Kane. Reports suggest his ankle injury has healed sufficiently for him to play some part, possibly from the bench, and he has arrived at Wembley with the Spurs squad. If Harry Kane Team are to win, Harry Kane will need to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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