Guardiola hits back at Arsenal’s ‘dark arts’ claims ahead of Manchester City’s Carabao Cup final

London—With a Carabao Cup final looming on Sunday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola used his pre-match press conference to swat away suggestions that Arsenal have been bending the rules on set pieces, dismissing the north-London club’s alleged “dark arts” as a distraction from far weightier issues.

“Dark arts? When someone does something like that, the referees must stop it,” Guardiola said. “Look what happens in the world. We are in the middle of chaos, and nobody moves a finger. The world is going to collapse, and we are talking about whether a team uses dark arts. There are more important things than that.”

The rebuttal lands 48 hours before City walk out at Wembley knowing the competition may represent their most realistic route to silverware this season. Although the champions remain mathematically in the Premier League title fight—nine points behind Arsenal with a match in hand—recent elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid has narrowed their trophy path. A quarter-final date with Liverpool in the FA Cup offers another opportunity, yet the League Cup final offers an immediate chance to lift a trophy.

Guardiola, who worked closely with now-Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during the latter’s tenure as his assistant at the Etihad, offered measured praise for the Gunners’ evolution under the Spaniard. “They control many aspects of the game after years without titles. That has given them an edge. They are organized, they defend deep, they have a good build-up. They are an exceptional team,” he said, while brushing aside any personal rift with his former lieutenant.

Arteta’s tactical blueprint has shifted away from the high-tempo positional play both coaches once espoused, instead favouring deeper blocks and set-piece efficiency—an approach that has apparently rankled City ahead of the Wembley encounter. Guardiola’s broader frustration, however, appeared aimed at football’s governance rather than any single opponent, referencing opaque decision-making “behind stage” and citing the recent overturned result in the Africa Cup of Nations final, where Senegal were stripped of the title despite beating Morocco.

City’s season now hinges on a strong finish across three remaining competitions. Victory on Sunday would secure a first piece of silverware since last spring’s Premier League triumph and keep alive Guardiola’s streak of winning a major honour in every full campaign since arriving in England. For Arsenal, a maiden trophy under Arteta would serve further notice that their rebuilding project has moved into a ruthless new phase—one that, according to their rivals, is not above exploiting every marginal gain, legal or otherwise.

Kick-off at Wembley is set for Sunday afternoon, with both managers expected to field near full-strength sides despite congested calendars. Guardiola, ever the perfectionist, insists the focus must stay on performance rather than subterfuge. “I don’t have time to go to London,” he said of off-field mind games, “and I don’t think he has time to come to Manchester with four competitions.”

The rivalry, already white-hot, now carries the extra spice of accusation and rebuttal. By late Sunday evening, the debate over dark arts may be superseded by the more decisive matter of who lifts the first major trophy of the English season.