Final reaction: City target more trophies

Samir Nasri celebrates with the Capital One Cup. Picture: Getty

Nasri scored within two minutes of a Yaya Touré equaliser as City, with Jesus Navas later adding a third, came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the final at Wembley.

City now hope they have built a platform from which they can push on to further glory this season. They are firmly in the chase for the Barclays Premier League title and play Wigan in the FA Cup quarter-finals next weekend.

The Champions League looks the least likely route to silverware, with City trailing Barcelona 2-0 after the first leg of their last-16 tie, but they are not giving up hope. Nasri told Sky Sports: “I feel so much joy, so much pride as well. It was really important to win.

“In the second half we came with better intention and we scored three goals. I’m really happy, I hope that this cup is going to bring some others.

“We want to win everything. We’re going to compete for the league, for the FA Cup, and we’re going to try and make something happen in the Champions League – [but] it’s going to be difficult.”

Fabio Borini put Sunderland ahead in the tenth minute and the Wearsiders dominated the early stages of the first half, looking the more energetic and committed team.

But the game turned on its head when Touré almost nonchalantly lobbed Vito Mannone from nearly 30 yards out and Nasri added the quickfire second.

Touré felt the goal was probably the best of his career. “I think yes,” he said. “It was important as well. We needed to win today. It was very important.

“The final is only one game and you need to enjoy it – but you also need to win.”

The victory earned City their third major trophy in three years after winning the 2011 FA Cup and 2012 Premier League.

Captain Vincent Kompany also hopes that there are many more such occasions to follow.

He said: “It’s the best stadium, for me it’s the best in Europe, maybe even the world, and lifting the trophy here is something special.

“We never take anything for granted and we’ll enjoy every moment. I think we should be hungry for more. We’ve achieved something great for the club and we need to carry on.”

Losers’ reaction: Brown plea for final performance every week

Wes Brown has challenged his Sunderland team-mates to reproduce their Capital One Cup final performance to drag themselves out of relegation trouble.

For 55 minutes at Wembley, the Black Cats threatened to pull off a major shock as they led Manchester City 1-0 having enjoyed the better of the first half. But stunning finishes by Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri inside two second-half minutes handed City the advantage, and they eventually ran out 3-1 winners.

Sunderland could earn another trip to Wembley next weekend when they face Hull City in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but securing their Barclays Premier League status will be the main focus. Asked what manager Gus Poyet had said in the dressing room after the final whistle, 34-year-old Brown said: “He just said, ‘Listen, we have got important games coming up now and if we can play like that in the first half, we can play like that every week’.

“We have just got to take that in and make sure we do it in the league now. They scored two fantastic goals and managed to kill us with a third, so it was disappointing. But the lads can keep their heads up high and we have to start taking that sort of form we had in the first half into the league now.”

Poyet will hope a display full of grit, character and no little skill will provide the springboard for a late-season surge, and Brown sees no reason why that cannot be the case. He added: “Yes, why not? We can do it against the big teams, so we have just got to keep it going against the teams around us now.”

For all Sunderland’s best efforts, City’s quality eventually told and there was little Brown and his fellow defenders or goalkeeper Vito Mannone could do to keep the opposition at bay. Touré’s imperious 55th-minute equaliser was swept into the top corner in stunning fashion to spark a powerful fightback.

Brown said: “When it’s a final, I always think it’s going to take top-quality goals to win, and they were. Even when he [Touré] was shooting, I was thinking we were okay, and he managed to put it in the top bin.

“It’s just the way it goes. In that sort of sense, we are disappointed, but they were fantastic goals to get them into the lead.

“Considering they scored three goals, they never really had a clear-cut chance in the sense that they got behind us or battered us. But that’s football, they have got quality players and that’s what quality players do.”