Mark Hughes' men took a young Gunners side back to school in the second-half with goals from Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vladimir Weiss securing the team its first League Cup semi-final since the 1980/81 season.
Arsenal picked up five bookings during the defeat and Arsene Wenger might regret that Emmanuel Eboue, Alex Song, Mikael Silvestre and Tomas Rosicky were the only experienced players he chose to select as he continued his policy of giving youth its head in the Carling Cup.
City, meanwhile, fielded a virtually full-strength line-up which included Arsenal old boys Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.
With 20 minutes on the clock the home side underlined their early dominance when Shaun Wright-Phillips set up Craig Bellamy only to see the Welsh captain screw his shot wide from 12 yards when a shot on target would probably have resulted in a goal.
But the young Gunners settled into the game and will have been heartened by some cute passing from Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, together with promising chances for Carlos Vela and Emmanuel Eboe.
A feisty spirit on the pitch was mirrored on the touchline when Wenger launched a mysterious tirade in the direction of the fourth official after his counterpart Hughes kicked the ball back into play from the technical area. Wenger did not shake hands with Hughes at the end of the game.
Bellamy was also in a mysteriously tetchy mood as half-time arrived – he could be seen complaining to the referee with such animation that he had to be restrained by his team-mate Shay Given.
The fiery midfielder's mood was improved by a City goal in the 49th minute after the resourceful Tevez won possession, embarked on a fine solo run and smashed the ball into the top corner of the net.
The lime green left boot of Adebayor nearly added a second minutes later when a Bellamy pass from the wing left the goal at his mercy.
A repeat of the Messiah-style arms-outstretched pose Adebayor used to celebrate the league goal he scored against his former club earlier in the season was unthinkable for the North London club.
So there must have been a slight sense of relief when Shaun Wright-Phillips, rather than thier former striker, scored City's second in the 68th minute. The England winger's shot from outside the penalty box was hit with such power it would probably have reached Old Trafford had it not hit the net – a goal to treasure against his Dad's old side.
When Alex Song committed a foul ten minutes from the end, he headed towards the tunnel in expectation of an early bath, expressing surprise when he turned round to see the referee brandishing a yellow card.
By this stage, many of the Arsenal fans were heading for the exit. If they had turned around they might have seen Fran Merida hit the bar for Arsenal.
It would only have been a consolation goal as some hard work from Craig Bellamy had already led to City's third goal in the 88th minute; an easy tap-in for Vladimir Weiss, one of the few young players selected by Mark Hughes.
Arsenal picked up five bookings during the defeat and Arsene Wenger might regret that Emmanuel Eboue, Alex Song, Mikael Silvestre and Tomas Rosicky were the only experienced players he chose to select as he continued his policy of giving youth its head in the Carling Cup.
City, meanwhile, fielded a virtually full-strength line-up which included Arsenal old boys Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.
With 20 minutes on the clock the home side underlined their early dominance when Shaun Wright-Phillips set up Craig Bellamy only to see the Welsh captain screw his shot wide from 12 yards when a shot on target would probably have resulted in a goal.
But the young Gunners settled into the game and will have been heartened by some cute passing from Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, together with promising chances for Carlos Vela and Emmanuel Eboe.
A feisty spirit on the pitch was mirrored on the touchline when Wenger launched a mysterious tirade in the direction of the fourth official after his counterpart Hughes kicked the ball back into play from the technical area. Wenger did not shake hands with Hughes at the end of the game.
Bellamy was also in a mysteriously tetchy mood as half-time arrived – he could be seen complaining to the referee with such animation that he had to be restrained by his team-mate Shay Given.
The fiery midfielder's mood was improved by a City goal in the 49th minute after the resourceful Tevez won possession, embarked on a fine solo run and smashed the ball into the top corner of the net.
The lime green left boot of Adebayor nearly added a second minutes later when a Bellamy pass from the wing left the goal at his mercy.
A repeat of the Messiah-style arms-outstretched pose Adebayor used to celebrate the league goal he scored against his former club earlier in the season was unthinkable for the North London club.
So there must have been a slight sense of relief when Shaun Wright-Phillips, rather than thier former striker, scored City's second in the 68th minute. The England winger's shot from outside the penalty box was hit with such power it would probably have reached Old Trafford had it not hit the net – a goal to treasure against his Dad's old side.
When Alex Song committed a foul ten minutes from the end, he headed towards the tunnel in expectation of an early bath, expressing surprise when he turned round to see the referee brandishing a yellow card.
By this stage, many of the Arsenal fans were heading for the exit. If they had turned around they might have seen Fran Merida hit the bar for Arsenal.
It would only have been a consolation goal as some hard work from Craig Bellamy had already led to City's third goal in the 88th minute; an easy tap-in for Vladimir Weiss, one of the few young players selected by Mark Hughes.
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