Johnny On The Spot: #THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. Manchester City’s progress across 3 fronts has continued on a rain lashed mid-December night in the Midlands to the glee of City’s booming travelling support. 3 wins in 10 days since a second defeat of the season at Chelsea tells its own story as Pep Guardiola’s heavily rotated squad continue to cope with numerous injuries.
The Blues, without encountering any real difficulty comfortably operated in third gear for the majority of this League Cup Quarter Final and infrequently invited a much changed and seemingly reluctant Leicester side on to them. We were comfortable, perhaps too comfortable for this correspondent with a delicate 0-1 lead despite Aro Muric not having to make a serious save until the last 20 minutes dawned. The Foxes had huffed and puffed in front of him, most notably Iheanacho who remains an offside specialist. Claude Puel began to introduce first teamers to which Pep countered as the cup tie took on an air of cat and mouse from which Leicester’s greater urgency was rewarded with a deserved equaliser as Oleks Zinchenko went AWOL. There was a profligacy about the champions who seemed to lose impetus in the second period. Kevin De Bruyne with a super goal had been imperious and as demanding as ever of the team mates around him right up until his fitness preserving withdrawal shortly before the home side’s leveller. Brahim Diaz, take note. A reinvigorated Leicester consequently took the game to their third consecutive League Cup penalty shoot-out which featured some shocking senior player penalties but also the redemption of Zinchenko and a memorable baptism of fire for Aro Muric, The Kosovo Kid. City’s forward momentum has resumed. JB’s Man of The Match: 17 year old Eric Garcia. More than looked the part.
Meanwhile… at a crumbling Old Trafford Manchester United have become everything their 700 million (TM) painfully entitled generation of fans once mocked so arrogantly. Spending big like City, droaning about history like Liverpool, targeting a 4th placed finish like Arsenal and changing managers like Chelsea. Now they covet the Spurs boss. #THEATRE OF HYPOCRISY.
The King Power Stadium
EFL Cup Quarter Final - City Win 3-1 on Penalties
7:45 pm
Attendance: 24, 644
Referee: Lee Mason of Lancashire
| Leicester | Manchester City | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albrighton (73') | De Bruyne (14') | ||||||
| 12 Danny Ward | 49 Aro Muric | ||||||
| 2 Danny Simpson | 2 Kyle Walker | ||||||
| 4 Caglar Söyüncü | 50 Eric Garcia | ||||||
| 15 Harry Maguire | 30 Nicolas Otamendi | ||||||
| 28 Christian Fuchs | 35 Oleks Zinchenko | ||||||
| 38 Hamza Choudhury | 17 Kevin De Bruyne | Gündogan 71' | |||||
| 21 Vicente Iborra | Albrighton 61' | 5 John Stones | |||||
| 25 Onyinye Ndidi | 47 Philip Foden | ||||||
| 31 Rachid Ghezzal | Maddison 53' | 26 Riyad Mahrez | |||||
| 8 Kelechi Iheanacho | Pereira 81' | 10 Sergio Agüero | Jesus 76' | ||||
| 7 Demarai Gray | 55 Brahim Diaz | Sterling 66' | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| 5 Wes Morgan | 7 Raheem Sterling | ||||||
| 10 James Maddison | 8 Ilkay Gündogan | ||||||
| 11 Marc Albrighton | 18 Fabian Delph | ||||||
| 14 Ricardo Pereira | 31 Ederson | ||||||
| 17 Eldin Jakupovic | 33 Gabriel Jesus | ||||||
| 20 Shinji Okazaki | 34 Philippe Sandler | ||||||
| 24 Nampalys Mendy | 61 Felix Nmecha | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 7 | Goal attempts | 12 |
| 2 | On Target | 3 |
| 4 | Corners | 7 |
| 8 | Fouls | 7 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 34 | % | 66 |