Nico O'Reilly celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon at Wembley, he scored twice in four minutes to win the EFL Cup final for Manchester City against Arsenal.
If that sounds like a story someone invented, it is because it barely seems real.
The Manchester City academy product — who has been working his way into Guardiola's first team as a left-back this season — was not supposed to be the hero. Erling Haaland was. Bernardo Silva was. Instead, it was the 21-year-old who had never scored twice in a final, arriving at the far post twice in four minutes to head the trophy to the blue half of Manchester.
His first came from a Rayan Cherki cross — gifted by a catastrophic Kepa error, but O'Reilly still had to compose himself and finish from two yards. His second was better: a hanging Matheus Nunes cross met with conviction, redirected back across the goalkeeper and into the top corner.
The numbers confirm how special it was. O'Reilly is now the third-youngest player to score twice in a League Cup final, behind Wayne Rooney for Manchester United in 2006 and Ronnie Whelan for Liverpool in 1982. He had previously scored a brace only twice in his career before Sunday.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, O'Reilly was characteristically understated: "Unbelievable feeling to win a final and beat this team. We know how good they are. A bit of disbelief seeing all the fans cheering when I scored those goals. A really good feeling, a great birthday weekend."
A great birthday weekend. Only 21. The future is very bright.
