Man City eliminated from League Cup
Two of Southampton's goals were scored within the first six minutes of the first half and both were superb. Sekou Mara volleyed one touch behind Lyanco's cross to open the scoring. After that, Moussa Djenepo cut his heart, tipping the ball over goalkeeper Stefan Ortega's head from a distance of more than 25 meters to seal the victory for the Saint Mary's home team.
Southampton are at the bottom of the Premier League table and have not found stability after parting with Ralph Hasenhuttl in November. New coach Nathan Jones admits he has not been as popular with fans as his predecessor. But this will be a match to help the 49-year-old leader do that. Guardiola's hugs and compliments are proof of that.
Man City controlled the ball up to 72%, but only had seven shots, none of which were on target. This statistic is far behind Southampton with 12 shots, four on target.
For the second game in a row, Guardiola put the duo Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland on the bench. Notably, England midfielder Kalvin Phillips started his first match after 191 days of moving from Leeds. This is one of Guardiola's tweaks to Chelsea's 4-0 League Cup win three days earlier, along with the return of Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish.
Man City had a chance first, when Mohammed Salisu's loss of the ball created conditions for Gundogan to finish off the post. But Southampton responded with a shot from outside the box by Duje Caleta-Car, which Ortaga had to save. After that, the home team scored two goals in a row.
City have won the League Cup in five of the last seven seasons, but they could not break the Southampton defense for more than an hour remaining despite making three substitutions after the break, including the arrival of De Bruyne. Immediately after entering the field, the Belgian midfielder made the difference with a slot for Julian Alvarez to break the offside trap. But the striker who just won the World Cup missed the post.
In the 56th minute, Haaland replaced Grealish, but the Norwegian striker did not leave an impression. In contrast, Southampton's counter-attacks always make it difficult for Man City's defense. The home side were denied a third goal when Che Adams put the ball into Ortega's net in an offside position.
The last 15 minutes and seven extra minutes of injury time, Man City increased the pressure but to no avail. This defeat disillusioned Guardiola overcame legendary managers Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough to become the first manager to win the League Cup five times. Man City will rest for three days before the Manchester derby in the English Premier League on the evening of January 14.
