Manchester City claim their second double and the 13th in football history, but it says much about the scale of this Abu Dhabi project that such feats were almost of secondary concern on the day. Much more satisfying for them was that they beat their greatest rivals to the FA Cup, while claiming the victory that now puts them on the brink of equalling Manchester United’s unique achievement of a treble.
You couldn’t quite say that City never looked back after Ilkay Gundogan scored what was by far the quickest goal in FA Cup final history but, bar a late rally that saw Erik ten Hag’s side hit the bar, this wasn’t quite the grand test ahead of the Champions League final that would have been anticipated.
