Manchester City dumped OUT of Carabao Cup by West Ham on penalties

Holders Manchester City are knocked out of the Carabao Cup for the first time in FIVE YEARS… with Phil Foden the only man to miss a penalty in shootout defeat by in-form West Ham

  • Carabao Cup holders Manchester City were pushed to a penalty shootout away against West Ham 
  • It proved a tight affair between the two Premier League sides at the London Stadium on Wednesday night
  • Phil Foden missed City’s kick as West Ham won 5-3 to book their place into the last eight of the tournament
  • City starlet Cole Palmer led the line but chances proved to be at a premium for both sides across 90 minutes
  • Ilkay Gundogan had one of City’s best chances but he was thwarted from close range by Alphonse Areola
  • The last time Manchester City were knocked out of Carabao Cup was October 26, 2016 by rivals Man United 

There will be a new name on the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2018 thanks to West Ham.

And the way their season is going, the Hammers might be starting to fancy their chances of replacing Manchester City as winners of this season’s first piece of silverware.

A shootout victory sealed by Said Benrahma’s winning penalty booked West Ham a place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup.

And Phil Foden’s earlier miss in the shootout, the only one of the night and which paved the way for Benrahma’s big moment, was in keeping with a City performance that fell below their usual standards. 

Phil Foden missed his penalty kick as Manchester City were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by West Ham on penalties

Pep Guardiola (right) and his staff saw their title defence in the tournament come down to one missed penalty by Foden

West Ham midfielder Said Benrahma (right) did brilliantly to seal victory with the Hammers’ scoring all five of their penalties

Foden (left) was the only player to miss from City with Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo all finding the net

West Ham: Areola, Johnson, Dawson, Diop, Masuaku (Fornals 62), Soucek, Noble, Cresswell, Vlasic (Benrahma 62), Lanzini (Coufal 82), Yarmolenko (Bowen 62)

Subs not used: Zouma, Randolph, Ashby, Chesters, Baptiste 

Manager: David Moyes 

Man City: Steffen, Walker (Cancelo 46), Stones, Ake, Zinchenko, De Bruyne (Grealish 83), Fernandinho, Gündogan, Mahrez (Foden 72), Sterling, Palmer (Jesus 76)

Subs not used: Dias, Laporte, Rodri, Carson, Edozie

Manager: Pep Guardiola 

Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham) 

Pep Guardiola’s side eventually paid the price and their recent domination of this competition is finally over after four successive triumphs and five years without losing a tie in the EFL Cup.

Unsurprisingly, there were wholesale changes from both managers. In City’s case their nine highlighted an almost unfair strength in depth.

Guardiola’s side still contained 10 full internationals and one of England’s brightest young prospects in Cole Palmer, who has netted in this competition, the Champions League and twice for his country at Under 21 level this season.

West Ham’s eight changes were a welcome sign of the times for the east Londoners. They now have bigger fish to fry in the Premier League and Europa League. 

This was a night for the likes of Declan Rice and Michail Antonio to get a rare and well-earned rest.

City settled almost instantly, quickly finding their passing rhythm and pinning West Ham back. 

Palmer, one of the next big things out of City’s academy after Foden, was in a false nine role the England star filled so effectively at Brighton on Saturday and his early, elusive movement was making him hard to pick up.

Only a timely intervention from Issa Diop snuffed out Ilkay Gundogan as he also ghosted into the box and prepared to shoot.

With West Ham posing little threat, goalkeeper Zack Steffen briefly made things interesting by taking his time to deal with a back-pass, tempting Manuel Lanzini who slid in a split second after the American whipped the ball away just in time.

It was a little glimmer of encouragement, Mark Noble forcing Steffen into an awkward save from long range soon after. They were beginning to sense something. 

Cole Palmer led the attack for City but it proved difficult to break down West Ham’s resolute defence as they played off ball

Palmer is a rising star in City’s first team squad and with few attacking options he is getting plenty of opportunities to play

Ilkay Gundogan went close but he found his close-range effort thwarted by an inspired Alphonse Areola (right) in goal

Foden has been a star once again this season but he was below par on the night as City were largely kept at bay by West Ham

But along came another warning from City and Palmer, who marched into the box but had his shot kicked away by goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

It was the final time they came close in the half, thanks to some diligent West Ham defending and wayward finishing.

Nathan Ake headed City’s best opportunity in the closing stages wide from a Riyad Mahrez free-kick.

The Hammers were first to threaten after the break when Arthur Masuaku fired over after being played in by Noble.

The home fans would have preferred if he had tried his luck moments earlier when their side worked the ball out City-style from back to front to present Masuaku with a sight of goal, but he took too long to sort his feet out.

And after Gundogan was equally wasteful at the other end, another chance fell Masuaku’s way, Steffen palming his shot into the air before Andriy Yarmolenko’s follow up was blocked by his Ukraine team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko. 

West Ham striker Andriy Yarmolenko got a rare chance on the night for the hosts but he was unable to find the target

West Ham are flying high in the Premier League and proved once again they can make life difficult for sides as good as City

Much has been made of Raheem Sterling’s future at Manchester City and he was given a chance from the start in London

West Ham boss David Moyes (right) looked pensive throughout but it was relief coursing through his veins after the shootout

That sparked City into life. Both Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne tested Areola before he acrobatically pushed away John Stones’ header.

Both managers turned to their benches to make attacking changes but the chances — mainly for City, though Soucek blew a great one for West Ham — continued to come and go.

And it was not until penalties that the two teams could be separated.

Noble made amends for his recent penalty miss against Manchester United to get West Ham off on the right foot before Foden whipped his effort wide to hand the home side the initiative.

And they never let it go, converting all five of their efforts to cap a memorable night for David Moyes’s side.






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