Nico O`Reilly savoured a weekend to remember after the Manchester City defender`s double sealed a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final on Sunday — just 24 hours after his birthday. O`Reilly turned 21 on Saturday and followed his birthday celebration with a man of the match performance at Wembley.
The left-back punished a mistake from Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to open the scoring with a close-range header on the hour. And O`Reilly struck again with another header four minutes later to give City their ninth League Cup triumph.
“Unbelievable feeling. To win a final, to beat this team we know how good they are. We need to build on it, it will give us good momentum. Buzzing with today,” O`Reilly said. “Bit of disbelief seeing all the fans cheering like that when I scored those goals. Really a good feeling and a great birthday weekend.
“My whole family came down today. They are all in the stand and I know they will be buzzing. I can`t wait to celebrate with them.” O`Reilly has been converted from a midfielder to a defender by Pep Guardiola since breaking into the City team. The England international said that familiarity with being in attacking positions allowed him to capitalise on Arsenal`s mistakes.
“Since I was a kid I always played in midfield, I was always arriving in the box and scoring goals,” he said. “To bring it in at senior level and the highest level, it`s good for me and adds goals to my game. A great feeling.”
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