Who did Pep Guardiola say was 'signing of the season' after Manchester City's Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal?

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Manchester City won the Carabao Cup final as they beat Arsenal 2-0 thanks to a second-half double from Nico O'Reilly. Man City head coach Pep Guardiola was full of praise for O'Reilly, describing his season as "extraordinary," and said his team were "unbelievably good" in the second half. He also reflected on whether the result could impact the Premier League title race with Arsenal.

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Pep Guardiola hailed Nico O’Reilly as the ”signing of the season” after his double helped Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-0 to win the Carabao Cup final.

O’Reilly headed home twice in four second-half minutes as Man City overcame Arsenal at Wembley.

The boyhood City fan, who turned 21 on Saturday, has developed into a key player for Man City this season and has now scored eight goals in all competitions.

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"He has been so surprising so far even for me,” Guardiola said about O’Reilly. ”The season he has done so far has been extraordinary…Maybe he was the signing of the season [he signed a new deal in September].

”When we started the season we had a long conversation with him. He started to play at left-back and impressed a lot. He can play in many roles. He scored two fantastic goals.”

Man City and Arsenal will meet again in the Premier League on April 19 as they battle for the title.

Arsenal are nine points ahead at the top of the table, having played a game more, and Guardiola does not expect the Carabao Cup final result to impact the title race. "I would like to be nine points in front to fight for the Premier League," Guardiola said.

"I don't think it will have an impact, different competition and they will be more concerned when they come to the Etihad.

"The Premier League is in their hands. We have a game in hand and Arsenal at home, and we are going to try to win our games, and we will see what happens."

Arsenal had the better of the first half at Wembley but Man City improved after the break and took control with O’Reilly’s double.

They saw out victory without too much trouble and Guardiola was impressed with how his side performed.

”The players prove again – the old ones and especially the new ones – that when required to do something during a season in which we have not been consistent, today we achieved it.

”Especially without the ball and with the ball in the second half, was unbelievably good. I could not believe how unbelievably good we had done in the second half. It’s really important for the club as well, not just the young guys.

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”James [Trafford, the goalkeeper] saved us in the first minutes. Everybody made a contribution – Max Alleyne played at Newcastle in the semi-final with a lot of injuries. These competitions, we need everybody involved.

”They suffocated us in the first 15 minutes but after that we started to win second balls. The Carabao Cup is not the Champions League or the Premier League but winning against that team makes the title special. A fifth Carabao Cup in 10 years is not bad. Every time you win a title it looks more difficult than in the past. It is really difficult for many reasons.”

Man City are next in action on April 4 when they face Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Stream the Premier League, Men’s and Women’s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more on TNT Sports

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