Capital One Cup final: Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland - Five Talking Points

After flattering to deceive for much of the game, two wonder goals fromYaya Tour and Samir Nasri was enough to seal a comfortbale 3-1 victory over Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final. Here are the five major talking points from the game.

#1 Where next for Pellegrini?

The Chilean was given the job, with just one condition, do well in Europe. And although they lost the first leg against Barcelona, he as certainly done a lot more than Roberto Mancini did by being in the knockout stages. Having said that, winning a trophy in the very first year certainly doesn’t do much harm at all. The Capital One Cup was the 60-year-old’s first major trophy in Europe, which, ended a decade-long wait for a trophy ever since he started with Villareal. The victory also showed that the Chilean’s South American titles were no fluke and also made him the first South American manager to claim the League Cup. With one trophy already in his bag, he can shift his focus to the other three competitions knowing fully well that this season is already a success.

#2 Black Cats put up a brave fight

Sunderland might have lost the game 3-1 game, but their performance was one that would have made their fans proud. In the first half, the Black Cats certainly gave City a run for their money and ended the half with a 1-0 lead. Although they would have been disappointed to have lost the game, the manager can certainly take plenty of positives from the defeat. After the game, Gus Poyet reflected that sentiment, when he said “We had a go, we did everything we could. Defeat today, I hate it. I hate losing but I'm proud of the players. If we do this every week I'm sure we will stay in the Premier League and will come back to Wembley [in the FA Cup].”

#3 City blitzkrieg enough to see off Sunderland

So far this season, one thing has been very evident from Manchester City’s performances. Given the quality in their ranks, more often than not, they have managed to beat the opposition into submission and their home form is certainly a testament to that. But there has also been another side to City, a side that couldn’t be bothered, a side that looks lethargic and not in the least bit interested in winning a game. In the first half, it looked as though the latter had taken to the stage and that was going to spoil their hopes of claiming their first piece of silverware this season. But a 105 second spell which saw them score two goals ensured that a repeat of last year’s FA Cup final wasn’t on the cards. It took Yaya Touré’s sublime shot from 30-yards, arguably the finest final goal in recent memory and Samir Nasri’s outside-of-the-boot finish to see off Sunderland and leave the City faithful jumping with joy.

#4 Tour brings his A-game when it matters most

Yaya Touré is perhaps the embodiment of the current crop at City, extremely talented, capable of the sublime, but also someone, who at times, can go missing for large parts of the game. Against Sunderland, when his side needed him the most, Touré was there. City looked rank-outsiders for much of the opening 45 minutes, and it was only the Ivorian stunning shot into the top corner that started the recovery process. The goal made it a hat-trick of Wembley winning strikes for the Ivorian, goals following the ones in the FA Cup semi-final and final of 2011. It was also his 17th goal of the season, and showed us yet again of his incredible ability of being there for his side and making the art of scoring spectacular goals incredibly simple.

#5 Cattermole and Borini have a game to remember

Although Sunderland ended up losing the game, some of their players deserved to be on the winning side. Chief among which, were Cattermole and Borini who started the game on a high and were the main reasons why Sunderland went into the break with a lead. Much maligned for his aggressive instincts, Cattermole showed just how good he can be on his day. He displayed all the qualities of a total midfielder- combative with his tackling, crisp with his passing and completely convincing in his efforts to drive his team forward. And it was he who latched on to a loose ball early on, which eventually led to Borini’s goal. The Italian forward, took the goal with consummate ease and left the goalkeeper with no chance whatsoever and was unlucky not have scored a second thanks to Vincent Kompany’s crucial interception seven minutes before half-time. Unfortunately for Sunderland, neither could keep it up in the second half and both faded as the game went on, but, not before leaving an indelible mark on the tie.