Manchester City Dumped Out of the Cup By Southampton

by , 12 January 2023

Tournament favourites Manchester City were sensationally beaten in the Carabao Cup by league strugglers Southampton. The Saints will now face Newcastle United, who beat Leicester, in the two-legged semi-final. Manchester United will face Nottingham Forest in their semi-final after the Red Devils beat League One side Charlton and Forest won their game against Wolves on penalties.

Southampton flag flying

Manchester City were beaten by Southampton in the cup © Pixabay.

One of the biggest shocks in recent years took place last night after the Premier League’s bottom club Southampton, beat the cup’s favourite, Manchester City, 2-0 at St Mary’s.

Pre-game, all the talk was whether Manchester United would likely face Manchester City or Newcastle United in the semi-final, or the final, as few gave Southampton any hope against the team who are two points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League. The bookies had Manchester City at 17/50. The draw was priced at 207/50, and a home win for Southampton was available at 851/100.

It was perhaps this lack of expectation that enabled Southampton to win. Even Southampton fans were indifferent, with over 10,000 empty seats at St Mary’s, a surprise given the calibre and prestige of the opponents, who have won this competition five times in the last seven years.

Despite this negativity, it was Southampton who started brightly, and the game was effectively won thanks to two goals in the first half scored in the space of five minutes.

Sekou Mara’s well-taken finish after 23 minutes gave the home side the advantage before Moussa Djenepo doubled their lead with an excellent goal. The 24-year-old is not renowned for his goalscoring ability, but he showed great belief to chip City’s keeper Stefan Ortega from distance.

Although City fielded a ‘weaker’ side to the one likely to feature in their next Premier League game, a trip to Old Trafford to meet neighbours United, it still had the quality to hurt the Saints. World Cup winner Julián Álvarez was played up front, and £100m man Jack Grealish both started.

City manager Pep Guardiola made changes during the break, bringing on Aké for Gómez and substituted Palmer for De Bruyne. With just over 30 minutes left to play, Grealish was replaced by 33-goal man Erling Haaland. However, despite bringing out the big guns, Southampton held firm, and remarkably City ended the game without a shot on target.

Manchester United, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest Qualify

Manchester United qualified for the semi-finals on Tuesday night after a 3-0 win over League One Charlton at Old Trafford. Antony opened the scoring after 21 minutes with a well-taken shot from outside the area. Charlton, backed by 9,000 supporters at the Theatre of Dreams, played well, but ultimately fell to two late goals scored by the in-form Marcus Rashford in the 90th and 94th minute.

Newcastle United joined their Manchester namesake by beating Leicester City 2-0. After a goalless first half, Dan Burn scored his first goal for Newcastle on the hour mark. The impressive Joelinton made the game safe for the home side by scoring in the 72nd minute.

Penalties were needed in the other quarter-final between Nottingham Forest and Wolves.

Forest took the lead after 18 minutes after great inter-play between Morgan Gibbs-White and Willy Boly. The former lofted a corner kick which Boly stabbed home from close range. However, Raul Jimenez scored for the visitors just after the hour mark by converting Matheus Cunha’s low cross. With the scores level at 90 minutes, the game went straight to penalties, and on-loan Dean Henderson was the hero, saving a penalty to see Forest through.

One downside for Forest is that Nottingham Forest drew Manchester United in the semi-final draw, meaning Henderson is unlikely to face his parent club in the next round.

EFL Cup draw:

Nottingham Forest v Manchester United

Southampton v Newcastle

The two legs will be played in the weeks commencing 23 and 30 January.

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