If they could only swap Carabao and FA Cup for the Premier League, Southampton wouldn’t have any problems. The Saints recorded their last Premier League win back in October 2022 (1-0 against Bournemouth) and are last in the top English competition. Their recent wins came only from the Carabao and FA Cup in the meantime (Lincoln City and Crystal Palace) an tonight they made a real sensation in the quarter-finals and eliminated non-other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City! Maybe the Cup competition, in which there is no pressure, was enough for the Saints players to start playing better, maybe it was some other reason, but Southampton was a better team this evening, scored two great goals in the first and defended their own goal in the second half for the final 2-0 score and the Carabao Cup semi-final.The last time Manchester City lost a Premier League or domestic cup game when losing at half-time was back in April 2022 against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final. 👀— Squawka (@Squawka) January 11, 2023 Manchester City had zero shots on target tonight, so their 70% ball possession meant absolutely nothing. World Cup winner Alvarez played the whole 90 minutes, and Haaland played 30 minutes, but nothing happened. City just didn’t show up on the field. Tempted with a big Manchester derby set for the weekend, Pep Guardiola decided to start the game without the ‘big guns’ Haaland, Mahrez, De Bruyne and Silva and made four changes from the FA Cup win over Chelsea. In came Joao Cancelo, Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish, but they brought nothing. Struggling Southampton stun eight-time EFL Cup champions Manchester City to advance to the EFL Cup semifinals. 😳 pic.twitter.com/glDXzBnEz9— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 11, 2023 In fact, it was the home team which played a great first half and completely earned their goals. And beautiful goals they were. The Saints knew that they cannot run the midfield against City, so they took their chances with long shots and it worked. Lyanco stepped in the 23rd minute before crossing for Mara, who got across Walker brilliantly and applied a wonderful finish. But the second goal minutes later was a masterpiece. Djenepo spotted that City’s reserve keeper Ortega was out of position and took a volley from 30 meters, scoring a stunner.Pep Guardiola made three changes at halftime as De Bruyne, Ake and Akanji all came in and the Belgium playmaker immediately created a good chance for Alvarez at the start of the second half. Haaland came in soon, but things didn’t change much. It was not City’s night and now Pep Guardiola really needs to think about the upcoming derby with Manchester United on Saturday. In the other quarter-final match earlier tonight, Nottingham Forrest managed to secure a place in the semi-final after a penalty shootout. It was 1-1 during the regular 90 minutes, but Manchester United’s reserve keeper saved an attempt from Hodge and sent his team to the next round. EFL CUPQuarter-finalTuesdayMan.Utd. – Charlton 3-0 (1-0)/Antony 21, Rashford 90, 90+3/Newcastle – Leicester 2-0 (0-0)/Burn 60, Joelinton 72/WednesdayNott.Forest – Wolverhampton 1-1 (1-0)/Boly 18 – Jimenez 64/Southampton – Man.City 2-0 (2-0)/Mara 23, Djenepo 28/
