The Manchester City fans were celebrating in the Transfer Tavern last night after they watched their side stroll to a 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Pep Guardiola claimed his first major trophy as manager of Manchester City yesterday as his side quickly forgot about their Wigan woes from earlier in the week and returned to their imperious best in the capital. There were many standout performers who were worthy of being singled out for individual praise yesterday afternoon, but perhaps to the surprise of many, it was the performance of Claudio Bravo which really pleased the City fans on Twitter.
Bravo was widely ridiculed last season for his apparent inability to save almost anything that was directed towards his goal, but now that Ederson has replaced him as number one at the club he has gradually begun to restore his credibility within a handful of domestic cup appearances.
Guardiola entrusted the Chile international with a starting berth yesterday due to the fact he played every minute of City’s run to the final – including a match-winning performance in a penalty shootout against Wolves in the fourth round of the competition.
And the City manager got his just reward for his decision after just 18 minutes yesterday, as Bravo provided an assist for Sergio Aguero to open the scoring after his long ball up-field allowed the Argentine to steal in behind the Arsenal defence – albeit, courtesy of some questionable defending from Shkodran Musafi – before he delightfully lobbed the ball over David Ospina.
However, City could have been behind by the time Bravo had assisted Aguero, as he made a brilliant save to deny Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang early on after Arsenal carved City’s defence open all too easily on a swift counter attack.
His all-round performance was vastly improved from the Bravo of old, which perhaps suggests that he has turned a corner now that he has been allowed to take a step out of the limelight in Manchester.
Either way, the fans were delighted with his performance throughout the entirety of the competition, and they took to Twitter to pay tribute to their goalkeeper in the aftermath of proceedings yesterday.
Here’s what the fans have had to say about Bravo since City’s victory over Arsenal…
Most fans doubted Claudio Bravo and his selection for the Final. Today he assisted City’s first goal and made 2-3 great saves.
Best Player of the League Cup? pic.twitter.com/2nPnSAcPKt
— City Chief (@City_Chief) February 25, 2018
100% our best player – that performance against wolves
— Adam (@doom20) February 25, 2018
As soon an individual performance it was probably one of the very best I've ever seen from a Goalkeeper
— RS99 (@rathinsanghavi) February 25, 2018
Player of the comp for us, all those pen saves for starters…today he showed why Pep bought him in the first place!
— Tragic (@TragicBlue21) February 26, 2018
Deserves to take the cup home with him, absolutely brilliant yesterday.
— Mike Freeman (@GPSpyMike) February 26, 2018
Scared the life out of me when he came charging out of his box in the second half though. I’ve been critical of him in the past, but credit where it’s due. He played a big part in the run to the final, deserved his place and played a part in winning the trophy. @C1audioBravo
— I’m not really here (@HereReallyNotIm) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/yolocky/status/967900594479316992
Not gonna lie, we were all nervous about him today but he proved us wrong and was ace between the posts.
— ATL CITYZENS (@ATLCityzens) February 25, 2018
