The previous time a Manchester City captain lifted the FA Cup it represented his perfect goodbye. Vincent Kompany announced his departure the following morning. He had spent the second half, he subsequently admitted, soaking it all in, surveying the fans, with victory against Watford long since assured. As City, a game away from the treble, may make history, there is a way in which it might repeat itself. Partly, anyway. Once again, the captain is out of contract, wondering what comes next. This time, he has one more game, a Champions League final. And this time the skipper was not a spectator standing on the Wembley pitch. He was the match-winner. He often is. When a season reaches its business end, the man City increasingly rely upon is Ilkay Gundogan, the nice guy with a tendency to finish first and, as his winning goals demonstrate, score last. He can trace two of a growing medal collection directly to his strikes; to his doubles, really, as a brace decided the Premier League on the final day of last season and another secured the FA Cup. The platform for this season’s league title was laid by Gundogan, his pairs of goals against Leeds and Everton demoralising Arsenal. No wonder Mikel Arteta wants to recruit him. If you can’t stop Gundogan, sign him. On a landmark occasion, the first time both captains had scored in an FA Cup final, City found a curiously old-fashioned way of claiming a prize that dates back to 1872. There are places where the armband is simply given on grounds of seniority or longevity. In England, it can come with the expectation of inspirational leadership; the watching Sir Alex Ferguson had first Bryan Robson and then Roy Keane as warrior captains. The onlooking David Beckham’s greatest act in an England shirt was the 2001 free kick against Greece to send his country to the World Cup. The previous captain to deliver two FA Cup final goals in the No. 8 shirt was Steven Gerrard. Each had an element of Roy of the Rovers; so does Ilkay of the City. Which, to rewind a few years, would have seemed surprising. Gundogan was the stylist: amiable, multilingual, injury-prone but scarcely appeared Kompany’s natural heir. But the reinvention of German reached its apotheosis in record-breaking time at Wembley. Gundogan may yet have a place in history alongside Keane as a treble-winning captain. He has secured a spot as the scorer of the quickest FA Cup final goal; he was the scourge of both the modern-day United and a former United striker, Louis Saha, whose 2009 goal for Everton is now merely the second quickest. And 2009 had another relevance. Fourteen years after Ferguson said United would never go into a derby as underdogs in his lifetime, their outsiders were behind after 13 seconds. Often an elegant presence, Gundogan had an explosive impact. A crouching David de Gea watched a half-volley fly past him. The sedate technician has been converted into a dynamic, goalscoring force. Perhaps his innate calmness equips him for the big moments; he is both relaxed and ruthless. His second had an oddity. There are few purer strikers of a ball than Gundogan but his left shin sufficed, meeting Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick to find De Gea wanting. Few can score from 20 yards in an FA Cup final, fewer still with each foot – or leg – in arguably the biggest Manchester derby of all. But for an offside flag, he would have had a hat-trick. And yet City’s methods felt instructive. The opener stemmed from route one, from Stefan Ortega’s punt forward and Victor Lindelof’s header, as well as Gundogan’s more advanced role. The German can hang around Erling Haaland, looking for the flick-ons and knockdowns. This, instead, was a second ball, the sort of thing Pep Guardiola rarely had to consider when his Barcelona side monopolised possession. He was unmarked for his second goal. As subsequent corners suggested, it was as though City had spotted a flaw in United’s set-piece marking and realised there was space on the edge of the box. Guardiola directed Gundogan to lurk their, leaving one of his best goalscorers outside the penalty area, where he could do most damage. But City’s goals came not from intricate passing moves but from a long ball and a set-piece: Guardiola’s mutation into the Catalan Sam Allardyce is complete. Admittedly there are times this season, when Manchester City’s back four has comprised of four centre-backs, when he might have been more of a Spanish Tony Pulis. He had emerged from the tunnel in a hoodie, apparently dressed as a teenager. Erik ten Hag turned up dressed instead like Sean Dyche, a business-like figure in dark suit and white shirt. But like Dyche’s Everton, his United were defeated by a Gundogan double. He had a second trophy to lift. He is one game away from completing City’s greatest season as their greatest captain. And maybe taking his leave. It would seem odd, but in his own way Ilkay Gundogan has become City’s master of perfect timing. Read More Man City vs Manchester United LIVE: FA Cup final result and final score after Ilkay Gundogan double Man City vs Man Utd result and player ratings as Ilkay Gundogan wins FA Cup final Even in defeat, Alejandro Garnacho shows he’s the future of Man United Manchester City one win away from sporting immortality after winning FA Cup Victor Lindelof struck by object thrown from crowd in FA Cup final Gundogan breaks record for fastest-ever goal in an FA Cup final

One US Senator has gone viral for seemingly offering a better alternative to dating apps: working for him. Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley shared that he had attended the wedding of his Chief of Staff, Jennifer Heins, over the weekend which also happened to be the 20th marriage to occur from people meeting in his office. After sharing pictures of himself with the happy couple on their wedding day, many joked that they were going to delete dating apps and instead go to work for Grassley. "Who needs hinge when you've got the office of u.s. senator chuck grassley", joked one user: However some said that the shocking number perhaps meant that Grassley, 90, should resign. One user exaggerated that he had been in office "for 156 years", whilst another went for a slightly lower number of "137": Others said it was evidence that he had spent too long in office. Grassley was first elected in 1980. Another said it was evidence for the need of "term limits": Grassley isn't the only Senator to possess matchmaking abilities. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is also known for producing couples from his office, with 11 marriages between his staffers occurring during his time in office. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 26, 2023--

There’s a full slate of baseball on Saturday to dive into, and I’ve targeted two games for my favorite prop plays of the day.After hitting a NRFI bet on Thursday, I’m going back to the well with a play in the Tampa Bay Rays-San Diego Padres matchup.https://twitter.com/peter...

A third of hospitals have already shut, the UN says, amid fears of fuel running out within hours.

A U.S. appeals court has rejected a bid by federal regulators to block Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard

The 2018 Netflix docuseries 'Girls Incarcerated’ challenged preconceptions and revealed the deep childhood traumas of its young offenders

PRISTINA Kosovo's prime minister on Tuesday presented a plan to defuse tensions in its Serb-majority north that would

Thousands of people including mostly women have held a massive sit-in in India’s violence-wracked northeastern state of Manipur demanding the immediate arrest of those involved in the harrowing mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked

This week’s new entertainment releases include Taylor Swift's rerecording of her “Speak Now,” a documentary on Wham

By Samuel Indyk LONDON The dollar fell broadly on Thursday, with risk-sensitive Asia-Pacific currencies leading gains as investors