With less than two minutes left on the clock and with Villa throwing everyone forward in a bid to force an equaliser, the Chilean leapt to produce an astonishing save to force Bjorn Engels’ goalbound header onto the post and clear to safety.
It proved the defining late moment in an absorbing Wembley encounter as City held firm to secure what was our third successive League Cup triumph thanks to first half goals from Sergio Aguero and Rodrigo.
And Ukrainian star Zinchenko, who produced an assured display at left back on his return to the side, revealed that the City players had suggested their own special salute to Bravo.
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“Someone said in the dressing room afterwards that we should now rename this as the Claudio Bravo Cup rather than the Carabao Cup!,” said Zinchenko.
“Because Claudio did it again for us (with that save). It takes a lot to do that (the save at the end).
“Everyone was talking about him in the dressing room.
“The game was a big battle – Villa were very well organised defensively and it was not easy but everyone understands that. It was a Cup final.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to win the trophy again.
“It’s an incredible feeling to play at this stadium – we did it again three times in a row and it’s so important for us to win every title.”
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With both the Community Shield and Carabao Cup now secured, there is still the enticing prospect of yet more possible silverware this season with City still very much in the mix in the both the Champions League and the FA Cup.
But Zinchenko said the focus for the squad was very much trained on the next challenge – in our case Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth round trip to Sheffield Wednesday – rather than looking too far ahead.
“We have an unbelievable squad and we want to fight for all the titles,” Zinchenko added.
“Everyone is happy but now we have to think about the next games as we still have other challenges.
“We have to focus on our performance for every single game and then at the end of the season we will see if it has been a successful season for us.
“We are still fighting for other titles – we have to do our job and then we will see.
“We have the Champions League, we have the FA Cup and we are going to fight for these kind of titles and then we will see what happens.“Everyone is focused on the next game – we don’t think too much ahead.”
