It's Double trouble as City fall at final hurdle

Lacklustre Blues fail in bid for history

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

CITY arrived at Wembley to make more history but saw the end of a few eras instead after a drab defeat to United.

Whether Erik ten Hag remains at Old Trafford remains to be seen, but the Blues and Rodri must start again next season after seeing 35-match and 74-match unbeaten runs respectively ended.

On top of English football six days previously, celebrating a fourth successive Premier League title, here they were outplayed by a team they had beaten twice and finished 31 points above.

To make it worse, it was their neighbours, who they have spent the year laughing at.

Pep Guardiola had warned this performance could happen, and singled out Bruno Fernandes before the game as a specific threat for United. Yet in truth nobody saw this coming as the Reds produced a performance they hadn't done all season to stun the Blues.

Kyle Walker had to be alert inside the first 10 seconds as United looked to catch City as cold as they had been done on this occasion last season.

Marcus Rashford hounded down on goal after a long kick over the top but his England team-mate used his exceptional recovery pace to get the Blues out of trouble.

Still inside the first minute, City went straight up the other end and were furious that a penalty wasn't given when Lisandro Martinez barged into the back of Erling Haaland.

Guardiola, smart in a suit but without the lucky sweatshirt that he never dared go against in the title race, was remonstrating on the touchline as his players queried the decision. City enjoyed the majority of possession even if they struggled to make further inroads on Andre Onana's goal in the opening halfhour.