Manuel Pellegrini is not the type to say I told you so. At least, not when a weary raise of the eyebrows and a minute or so of gentlemanly filibustering will do just as well. He might just be tempted though, at the end of a week that has seen Manchester City’s contentious exit from the FA Cup followed by victory here in the Capital One Cup final, which sandwiched the taking of a decisive step towards a place in the Champions League last eight.

That City required a penalty shootout to beat Liverpool at Wembley was due in large part to their own poor finishing, most notably two horrendously casual second-half misses from Raheem Sterling, who enjoyed a mixed and, indeed, peculiarly Raheem-ish first ever domestic final. There may be more clankingly incomplete hugely promising £50m players than City’s junior recruit. But not many that spring to mind.

And yet the day ended in glory, with Sterling raising his first trophy and the suggestion, for all the ragged finishing touches, that more might yet be on the way. It isn’t often a drawn-out penalty shootout victory can be summoned as evidence of a team finding its late‑season rhythm. But there was enough here in vital areas to suggest the last days of Pellegrini may be a case of burning out rather than fading away.

First up: what about Willy! The selection of City’s No2 goalkeeper had raised the odd eyebrow before kick-off. Not only was it a spectacular hit as Willy Caballero saved three times in the shootout, during which he seemed to grow in size and stature, morphing into a deep-blue, arm-waggling giant, all vast hands and fiercely gleaming pate.

Beyond this there was a glimpse here of the quietly calming hand of Manuel, a selection that came down on the side of consistency in the cups, and also keeping the dressing room sweet. Caballero is popular with the team’s Argentinian rump. Conjuring a gristly champion spirit out of City’s disparate parts has been a significant feat for Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini before him. With a run of high-stakes games before his own departure, this could yet turn out to be another small, sure touch of the hand.

There were positives for City elsewhere, notably in the continued imposing return of Vincent Kompany, who blocked and intercepted and threw himself into the right spaces. Nicolás Otamendi has made mistakes but next to Kompany his desire to attack the ball can create a nice balance. Kompany’s own shaky moments have often come when he has flown out of his defensive line too early. With Otamendi a whirling, snarling defensive werewolf, he can play at his shoulder, take a breath, cover the space behind.

City look solid now with their rejigged central rump, the double-hustle of Fernando and Fernandinho a kind of imperial litter to ferry the decelerating kingpin Yaya Touré about the pitch. With Kompany back they have the most experienced central spine of any of the Premier League’s contenders. What happens in front of them, with David Silva not at his best and Kevin De Bruyne a major absence, could yet decide how the season plays out.

At which point: enter Raheem the terribly hesitant, a dominant presence, for mixed reasons, during the 120 minutes of this absorbing final. On a chilly London afternoon, alive before kick-off with the usual migrainous tannoy and ceremonial flame-burpers, Sterling’s name had drawn huge boos beforehand. His first touch got an even louder one, his first misplaced pass howls of glee.

For Liverpool’s fans the obvious narrative of a player who left to win things literally winning things at his old team’s expense had been a quietly alarming prospect ever since this final fell into place. “One greedy bastard,” they chorused through the first half. Incorrectly, as it happens. There are, in fact, lots of greedy bastards out there.

Is Sterling one of them? He moved to City to earn a mountain of money, play in the Champions League and win trophies. It seems a bit of a stretch to claim exclusivity when these are the exact life goals of pretty much every single person playing professional football.

If the first 45 minutes resembled an occasion desperately in search of a football match, City still looked the most likely scorers. Three minutes after the break they did just that, Fernandinho shooting through Simon Mignolet after a brilliant, untracked 50-yard sprint to take Sergio Agüero’s pass.

At which point Sterling produced not just one but two contenders – given the stage, the story – for miss of the season. Twice he set off on a storming run through the middle. Twice he took a step, opened his body, paused a micro-moment to take the ball on the half volley … and shanked it wide from 10 yards. Philippe Coutinho equalised with eight minutes left. And 40 minutes later Caballero brought relief for Raheem, who in fairness played well here when he was not fluffing his lines.

Sterling’s sitters aside, this was a significant moment for Pellegrini as he rounds the final bend in his City career, knees high, chest out, eyes fixed on the line. The sustained success of the past six years can perhaps be dismissed a little too easily given the billions spent. But somebody has still had to make this team win. With a little more precision, another flex of those well-seasoned shoulders, the age of Manuel might have a little more to give from here.