RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
A 60th League Cup final brought Pep Guardiola a 30th trophy as a manager.
His Manchester City have three in a row in a competition they have made their own, capturers of the Carabao Cup for a third successive season. They have four in six years, seven successes in all. Only Liverpool, with eight, have more.
Aston Villa were valiant, but ultimately vanquished at Wembley, delight transplanted by despair at the same venue upon which they secured promotion last May to the Premier League. Heavy underdogs, in the end they could do nothing to stop the reigning English champions.
City began without their prize asset, Kevin De Bruyne consigned to the bench, yet Villa’s regular villain helped see off them once more. Sergio Aguero opening the scoring, a 10th goal in six matches against what he must surely regard a favourite foe. It was his sixth in nine for City at Wembley.
Rodri recorded the decisive blow, a header on the half hour that rendered redundant Mbwana Samara's first-half header. English football's great spenders had enough resources to get past one of England's great old clubs. They won 2-1 in what turned out to be a thriller.
Perhaps it could have been altogether different, though, had Villa taken the lead early on. Not long after the anthems had finished and the first whistle sounded, Ahmed Elmohamady crossed for Anwar El Ghazi, who crept free from John Stones only to head over. The Dutch winger held his head in his hands.
So, too, Aguero at the other end. On 10 minutes, he met Ilkay Gundogan’s centre inches in front of teammate Stones, but looped his header onto the roof of the Villa net. Aguero gave Stones a rueful glance.
Regret turned to relief soon after. In the 20th minute, Phil Foden met Rodri’s raking pass at the back post, knocked down the ball to Aguero, who prodded it home despite Tyrone Mings’ attempted block. City’s all-time leading scorer had struck again.
Buoyed by the breakthrough, City bounded forward. Livewire Foden went closest, cutting in from the right and onto his favoured left foot, but the slightest of deflections took his effort inches beyond the post.
Not that it mattered much, for City quickly doubled their advantage. Gundogan was fortunate to win a corner against Jack Grealish, the ball coming last off his chest, yet the grateful German used a substantial slice of luck to cross for an unmarked Rodri. The midfielder rose high to head low past Orjan Nyland in the opposition goal.
City were rampant; Villa reeling. Raheem Sterling threatened, Foden proved a constant menace from his station higher up the pitch, while David Silva pulled his side’s strings. Given the captain’s armband in what could conceivably be his last final for City, the Spaniard orchestrated and operated in the space behind Augero.
Then, with a jolt, Villa found themselves back in the game. Five minutes before half-time, they were gifted a lifeline. Stones stumbled under a high ball, El Ghazi flashed a volleyed cross into the City area and Samatta powered his header past Claudio Bravo.
The Tanzanian trailblazer had turned the tide. He joined fellow Africans Didier Drogba, Joseph-Desire Job, Obafemi Martins and Yaya Toure in scoring in a League Cup final.
At the beginning of the second half, Foden almost got his name on the scoresheet as well. Peeling away from the fray, he drilled a half-volley into the turf, but watched in anguish as it bounced just wide.
With Villa alive, Guardiola sent for De Bruyne. It was a recognition that the tie still teetered, a reminder too of the gap between the two sides. If divergent approaches may have taken them to this point, rival players converged 18 minutes from time, once Marvelous Nakamba crunched through Aguero on the halfway line. Much to City’s considerable ire, the Villa midfielder received only a booking. They appeared to have a point.
Almost immediately, Nyland reacted brilliantly to repel another Rodri header. Aguero rippled the side-netting with an acrobatic volley. Then, right at the death, Villa thought they had rescued it. But Bravo pushed Bjorn Engels' header onto the upright, and City breathed a significant sigh of relief. They held on.
Some way behind Liverpool in the league standings, City remain on course for a cup treble. Four days after a famous victory at Real Madrid, they found enough for a final flourish. Guardiola's great Carabao Cup conquerors had another.
Mountain%20Boy
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How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
Alan Rushbridger, Canongate
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Premier Futsal 2017 Finals
Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.15pm
Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm
Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,200m
Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
