Guardiola sings praises of City's veteran trio

It was fitting that the goalscorers on Sunday were three Manchester City mainstays. Pep Guardiola has received a fair amount of criticism over his chequebook management during his time in England, but City's cup-final victory demonstrated the Spaniard's ability to coach and organise his teams in a way that makes his players shine. 

Aguero, Kompany and Silva all predate their manager at the Manchester club by at least five years, and  on Sunday they all demonstrated why they remain as important to their clubs now as they did when they arrived.

Aguero, whose position in the side was tipped to be under threat with the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, has arguably got even better since the Brazilian was added to the squad, notching 35 goals in all competitions this season. Silva, who is now 32, has been integral to the side, scoring 6 and assisting 11.

Arguably the most heartwarming goal of the day came from Vincent Kompany, however. The Belgian has been plagued with injuries over the last few years, and some had begun to disregard him, seeing his career but all but over. When he bounded over to the fans in blue after his 58th minute goal, it was obvious how much it meant to the veteran defender to return from injury and win his side a cup. 

Pep Guardiola made it clear how important the trio were to his side when he spoke to the press after the victory. "They help to make City what it is right now," he said. "It’s special that they scored the three goals and they help us understand what this club means.They won titles and they put the pressure on us to win. Whoever is here knows we have to win titles."

Ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown also sang the praises of City captain Kompany in his post-match report for the 'Daily Mail', stating that the defender represented the difference between the 'Citizens' and Arsenal. "[City] had everything in their captain’s performance that Arsenal lacked," he said. "Kompany has shown great dignity in the trophies they have won over the years while he has not been able to play a part on the pitch. On Sunday he was magnificent."

"He was like a brick wall and got a goal to cap his performance. What an emotional day for the City captain."

The trio will hope they can cap off their glittering Manchester City careers with a treble this year. The dream is still alive, with the Premier League all-but won already, and Guardiola's side looking vicious in the Champions League so far.

City will look to repeat Sunday's performance when they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal once again on Thursday.