Manchester City claimed a fourth consecutive League Cup on Sunday with a dominant display to beat Tottenham 1-0 in front of 8,000 fans at Wembley.
Aymeric Laporte’s header eight minutes from time finally ended Tottenham’s resistance as their 13-year wait to win a trophy goes on.
For the first time in 13 months, a football match in England had designated fans from both teams inside the stadium in one of a series of test events at Wembley as coronavirus restrictions are eased.
Defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend means City cannot claim an unprecedented quadruple of trophies this season.
However, they remain on course for a treble with the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain to come on Wednesday before possibly sealing the Premier League title next weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s men played like champions as after a slight dip in form in recent weeks, they pinned Tottenham back from the first whistle and should have won by a far more comfortable scoreline.
Spurs sacked manager Jose Mourinho on Monday amid a chaotic week as both City and Tottenham also quickly withdrew from plans to join a European Super League.
But City looked in a different league from the off as they peppered Hugo Lloris’s goal without finding the breakthrough.
Raheem Sterling saw a goalbound effort blocked by Toby Alderweireld before Lloris made a stunning save from point-blank range to turn behind Phil Foden’s shot.
A Sterling dink over Lloris then spun just wide before Riyad Mahrez twice flashed powerful efforts inches wide.
Spurs somehow held out without conceding until half-time as Lloris was called into action again to deny Joao Cancelo.
