Carabao Cup specialists Man City have been dumped out of this year’s competition in the quarter-finals via a shock away loss against Southampton.
First-half goals from Saints pair Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo stunned the eight-time winners who could not recover.
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne started on the bench ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
But, unlike on Sunday when the influential pair were not required in a thumping 4-0 FA Cup victory over Chelsea, the decision backfired as they were unable to prevent City suffering elimination after coming off the bench in the second period.
Battling underdogs Southampton fully merited victory and will face Manchester United, Newcastle or Nottingham Forest in their first League Cup semi-final since going on to finish runners-up in 2017.
A remarkable result on the south coast was Saints’ first home success over Premier League opposition since they beat Chelsea in August and only a sixth since the start of 2022.
Southampton overcame League One clubs Cambridge, Sheffield Wednesday and Lincoln to reach this stage but the vast number of empty seats suggested many home fans did not envisage further progression.
Yet Nathan Jones’ bottom-of-the-table side set aside their dire league campaign and dismal home form as an aggressive start prevented City slipping into their formidable rhythm and paved the way for a monumental upset.
Lyanco epitomised Saints’ steel with his robust early treatment of Jack Grealish and he was instrumental in the 23rd-minute opener.
After cutting out Sergio Gomez’s pass to Grealish, the Brazilian defender raced forward and delivered a low cross which Mara emphatically swept past Stefan Ortega to claim his first goal for the club.
City’s sold-out away end were briefly silenced by the surprise breakthrough and they had serious cause for concern only five minutes later as Djenepo doubled the lead.
The Mali international collected the ball just inside opposition territory and accelerated towards goal before unleashing a speculative curling effort from 30 yards which sailed over the head of stranded goalkeeper Ortega.
City’s best chance of an alarming first half fell to captain Ilkay Gundogan, who fired wide inside six minutes, and Guardiola responded by bringing on De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji for the second period.
De Bruyne almost made an immediate impact but, after his through ball cut open Saints’ defence, Julian Alvarez flashed…
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