Southampton stunned Manchester City to book a place in the semifinals of the English League Cup on Wednesday.
The bottom team in the Premier League produced a major upset by beating defending champion City 2-0 at St. Mary’s and will now face Newcastle over two legs in a bid to reach the final.
Nottingham Forest beat Wolves 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw and will take on Manchester United in the other semifinal.
It was Southampton, however, that produced the shock of the round against City.
First-half goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo allowed the hosts to put aside worries about their relegation battle and provide its fans with a reason for celebrating.
Eight-time winner City was the overwhelming favourite to progress to the semifinals after dominating the competition in recent times, lifting the trophy on six occasions in the last nine years.
Manager Pep Guardiola has won it four times since taking charge of City in 2016.
However, Southampton moved a step closer to the final at Wembley with the most impressive win yet since manager Nathan Jones was appointed in November.
In the night’s other match, Wily Boly’s first-half goal put Forest ahead in the game between two more teams who are battling against relegation from the Premier League. Raul Jimenez evened the score after the break.
Dean Henderson made the decisive save to deny Wolves’ Joseph Hodge in the shootout and send Forest through.
PEP PAYS THE PRICE
Perhaps Guardiola had one eye on Saturday’s league derby against Manchester United, but his much-changed team couldn’t handle Southampton’s flying start.
Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Ederson were among the big names left out of his starting XI.
Not that there was any shortage of stellar talent in his lineup, including Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Argentina’s World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, but Southampton was a worthy winner, with both goals coming inside 28 minutes.
It is far from ideal preparation ahead of City’s trip to Old Trafford in a game that could see United move to within a point of its Manchester rival.
UNITED AWAIT FOREST
Forest’s reward for victory against Wolves is a two-legged semifinal against in-form United.
The two teams met over Christmas, with United winning 3-0 at Old Trafford.
from Sportsnet.ca https://ift.tt/E0khGBV
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