Manchester City 3 Sunderland 1. The first silverware of the season is on its way to the blue half of Manchester and one of the goalscorers in City's win over Sunderland has vowed there will be more to follow in the weeks ahead.
"We want to win everything," declared Samir Nasri, who scored City's second in their Capital One Cup triumph. "We're going to compete for the league, the FA Cup and we're going to try to make something in the Champions League. I hope this is going to bring confidence and we'll fight until the end."
City had to show plenty of fight to come from behind and defeat a gallant Sunderland at Wembley after Fabio Borini fired the unfancied Black Cats ahead on ten minutes.
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That's how the score stayed for the rest of the first half although Sunderland had opportunities to double their advantage as they dominated their opponents. Wes Brown headed over from a corner and only a fine tackle from Vincent Kompany denied Borini as he raced through on goal.
City boss Manuel Pellegrini read his team the riot act at half-time and City emerged a different side to the lacklustre XI that had been bested by the Black Cats before the break.
It took them just ten minutes to level, Yaya Toure collecting Pablo Zabaleta's pass and then chipping Vito Mannone with delightful disdain. One minute later Mannone was again picking the ball out of his net after Nasri had powered Aleksandar Kolarov's through ball past him with the outside of his boot.
Substitute Jesus Navas, on for Sergio Aguero, made it 3-1 on the stroke of full-time as City lifted the league cup for the first time in 38 years. "I'm very happy," declared Pellegrini. "The team deserve this cup because we played well during the whole cup and scored a lot of goals. It's important for all of us - for the players, the club, for me, for the staff - all of us."
Asked what had been said at half-time in the City dressing room, Nasri replied: "We said we needed to stay calm and remain focused, play higher up and play with more tempo and that's what we did."
For Sunderland, who had come to London in search of their first major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 1973, there was the small consolation of knowing they had played their part in an entertaining match. "I hate losing but I'm proud of the players," said manager Gus Poyet, whose squad must now turn their focus towards staving off relegation to the Championship. "If we do this every week I'm sure we will stay in the Premier League," he said.
Ironically, City's victory could offer a lifeline to their local rivals Man United, who are now in with a chance of qualifying for Europe.
City's victory earns them a place in the Europa League, but they will pass that up if they finish in the top four of the league and qualify for the Champions League. If and when that happens the Europa League spot will not pass on to beaten finalists Sunderland, but the team that finishes sixth in the Premier League - currently Everton but perhaps in a couple of months, Manchester United
