No sooner had Manchester City overturned a Capital One Cup semi-final deficit against Everton and victorious manager Manuel Pellegrini was already dreaming of Wembley.
Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero all scored after Ross Barkley had initially put the Toffees ahead on the night to give City a 3-1 win and a 4-3 aggregate victory over two legs.
City fans can now look forward to a fourth major final in six seasons, and Pellegrini can’t wait for his side to grace Wembley once again.
“I am very happy, to play a final at Wembley, it is very important,” the Chilean manager said.
“It’s a special stadium with a special atmosphere. When you have two teams like City and Liverpool playing a final, it’s even more special.
“We were the best team on this night and we deserve to be in the final.”
The Citizens faced controversy over their second goal of the night after Raheem Sterling seemed to cross the ball once it was out of play.
Nevertheless this seemed to just be another disputed moment in the recent clashes between the sides, and City’s second-half performance established themselves as the dominant side.
It was Aguero who got the goal that wrapped up the tie, and he has now scored five goals in his past three games for City in all competitions.
However it was the introduction of De Bruyne after the hour mark that really seemed to turn the game in the Citizens favour, and he provided the assist for Aguero.
By scoring himself, the Belgian midfielder now has five goals in five appearances in the League Cup this season, including at least one in every round.
Therefore it came as a huge blow to City when De Bruyne seemed to suffer a serious injury late on.
Pellegrini confirmed the situation was a worry for his side, but he remains hopeful it won’t be the last time the midfielder is seen this season.
“The doctor thinks, but he cannot be sure, that it’s a problem in his medial ligament. I’m optimistic he won’t be out for the rest of the season.
“We’ll see how important the damage is. It’s not the cruciate ligament, it’s the medial we think.
“Kevin has been a very important player all season. He didn’t start this game as we have nine games between now and next month.
“It is difficult to know. He is with the doctor, it could be the medial ligament. It is not a nice injury.”
Image courtesy of Action Images/Alex Morton, with thanks.
