Match report
Man City are through to the semi-final
After a rousing fightback - aided by a questionable penalty - Leicester flopped to a tame exit, with Vardy and Mahrez’s missing in the shootout. Guardiola is ecstatic, especially with his rookies, most of whom performed very well - especially Zinchenko and, because of a very composed penalty in the shootout on his senior debut, Nmecha. Man City were beatable today, yet remain invincible in England this season.
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Mahrez, with a stuttering run up, sends a weak shot down the middle ... and Bravo saves! Leicester 3-4 Man City
Vardy, who scored at the end of normal time, blasts wide! Leicester 3-4 Man City
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Jesus, who misses against Spurs at the weekend, gets it right here. Leicester 3-4 Man City
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Nmecha, a 19-year-old on his debut, sends the keeper the wrong and scores masterfully! Leicester 3-3 Man City
Iborra nets neatly despite a good attempted save by Bravo. Leicester 3-2 Man City
Maguire bangs it low into the corner. Leicester 2-2 Man City
Toure makes no mistake! Leicester 1-2 Man City
Gundogan dinks one into the bottom corner as Hamer goes the other way. Leicester 1-1 Man City
Fuchs fires high into the top corner! 1-0 to Leicester
Leicester will go first ....
I would be very interested to hear Pep Guardiola’s take on the theory that shootouts are a lottery. I suspect and hope that he finds it offensive.
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Full-time: Leicester 1-1 Man City
A penalty shootout looms! Will Guardiola ask any of the youngsters to step up?
ET 30 min: Man City threaten to snatch qualifiation at the death, but Toure’s curler from 25 yards is easily saved by Hamer. There will be at least one more minute, that’s all.
ET 29 min: Maguire strides forward from half-way and then tries to drop a pass on to the boot of Vardy, who had peeled wide to the right. Vardy tries to volley home from nine yards. But he mis-hits his shot. Leicester are well on top now. Can they find a later winner? And how much time will the ref add on this time, bearing in mind he found eight minutes at the end of normal time?
ET 26 min: Mahrez threads a nice low pass into the path of Vardy, who goes down in the box under pressure from Danilo. Penalty!? No, the ref waves away the appeals. It seemed to be the correct decision at first look, as Danilo didn’t appear to be make any contact despite an ungainly lunge.
ET 25 min: Mahrez wriggles away from Zinchenko down the right and then fizzes in a curling shot from the corner of the box. Bravo bats it away...
ET 24 min: Both managers are standing on the sidelines, gesticulating in ways that their players may or may not understand.
ET 22: Walker gives the ball away deep in his own half. Gray plays a snappy one-two with Vardy and closes in on a shot ... but Walkers whizzes back and pokes the ball out for a corner!
Leicester substitution: Benalouane on, Dragovic off. That is, er, presumably for the penalty shootout.
Et 20 min: Nmecha makes a strong run into the Leicester box and then tries to pick out Jesus. But Iborra makes a timely intervention. Man City regain the ball and recycle it to Zinchenko, who tries a shot from 25 yards. It’s a powerful, swirling effort and flies only inches over the bar!
ET 18 min: Excellent tackle by Nmecha on Okazaki.
ET 17 min: A scrappy, low-fi start to the second period.
Half-time in extra-time
Leicester were the more dangerous in the first half; but this could be headed for a shootout, just like Man City’s tie against Wolves in the last round.
ET 15+1 min: Toure curls the ball over the wall. Its a good effort, but Hamer flies across goal to save quite comfortably.
ET 15 min: Maguire booked for clattering into Dele-Bashiru. Freekick to Man City about 25 yards out. A perfect opportunity for Toure to remind everyone that he’s still on the pitch ...
ET 13 min: I’ve just remembered Yaya Toure is on the pitch.
ET 12 min: Bravo takes a touch to control a pass back right in front of his goal ... and before he knows it, Vardy is on top of him! The ball ricochets off the striker ... and trickles just wide!
ET 10 min: Zinchenko, who has taken his opportunity to impress today, wins a freekick down the left, about 18 yards shy of the corner flag. Gundogan floats over a in-swinger. Iborra nods it back out.
ET 9 min: Mahrez curls a freekick to the back post. Maguire sends a downward header several yards wide.
ET 7 min: Mahrez is having a party. He’s jinking and teasing his way into the box, looking for an opening while also daring Man City players to try tackling him, at the risk of bringing him down. Eventually, and under much duress, Man City players manage to shoo him away.
ET 5 min: Walker is shown a yellow card after going down in the box under a tackle by Dragovic. And it was the right decision, even if you can understand Walker trying it on after the penalty that was given against him earlier. Two wrongs just make one wrong bigger.
ET 4 min: Walker shows his speed and alertness to reach the ball before Okazaki after a slip by Adarabioyo hinted at an opening for Leicester. Meanwhile, Arsenal are the first team into the semi-final of this season’s League Cup: they’ve beaten West Ham 1-0 today.
ET 2 min: Walker flies down the right and chips in a lovely cross to the near post. Jesus, leaning back, gets a nice header on it, but Hamer makes a comfortable save.
ET 1: Man City do the honours. Danilo, by the way, was booked for protesting against the award of that late penalty.
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End of regulation time: Leicester 1-1 Man City - extra-time on the way
This is Leicester’s to lose now: they have something close to their first team on the pitch for extra-time, while Guardiola threw on a couple of teenage debutants towards the end, not suspecting that extra-time would be needed.
90+8 min: The more replays I see of that penalty, the less convinced I am that there was a foul or even much contact. I’d like to hear Gray’s explanation for exactly what sent him tumbling.
GOAL! Leicester 1-1 Man City (Vardy pen 90+7)
Vardy hammers it hard and low into the corner, beyond the dive of Bravo. Game back on!
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Penalty to Leicester!
Gray went down under as Walker chased him into the box. I’m not sure that was a foul but no matter, Vardy is going to have a chance to take this into extra-time ...
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90+5 min: Man City are keeping the ball down the Leicester end, much to the irritation of the home fans. Resurrecting the discussion about Pep’s four competitions, Nathan Walsh points out that “It should also be noted that Copa del Rey is two-legged from when La Liga teams enter in the round of 32 till the final. And the super cup (Supercopa) is also two-legged. So not really a dramatic difference in # of games compared to England.”
90+3 min: Mahrex sweeps a freekick beyond the back post Maguire rises high but can’t direct his header on target.
Man City substitution: Dele-Bashiru on, Foden off. And just as that substitution is made, the fourth official announces that there will be at least eight minutes added time. Pep’s expression suggests he hadn’t seen that coming! Which is understandable: I’m not sure where the officials found that time from. I’d like to think they stopped their watches every time the ball went dead, but if that were the case, there’s be about 35 minutes added on.
90 min: Gray slaps a low pass across the face of goal ... Vardy stretches to meet it six yards out .... but misses it by inches!
89 min: Okazaki can’t quite control a pinged low pass by Fuchs. Adorobioyo and Walker combine to snuff out the danger.
Man City substitution: Nmecha on, Diaz off. That’a senior team debut for the 19-year-old forward.
85 min: Man City have no intention of simply hanging on. They take the play down the other end, and Maguire has to slide in to divert the ball wide before Foden can get on the end of a low cross from the left.
83 min: Walker is now on for Mangala.
82 min: Brilliant by Mahrez! This time he gave young Zinchenko a lesson, shimmying past him in the box befre flashing in a low shot/cross from the right. Bravo parries ... and then pounces on the rebound before Vardy.
80 min: Man City are reduced to 10 players while Mangala is off the pitch receiving treatment (in fact, it looks like he’ll be replaced by Walker). Toure goes to centreback in the interim. He is immediately caught dawdling on the ball by Vardy. But Leicester fail to do anything with it.
78 min: Mangala jumps bravely to win a header above Vardy before banging his nose into the striker’s bonce. Blood streams down in crimson tribute to his courage; then the medics scamper on to stop all the gushing.
77 min: Maguire does well to beat Jesus to a pinged low cross by Silva.
75 min: Mahrez tries to coax Zinchenko into diving in for the ball so that he can be easily eliminated just to the left of the Man City box. But the youngster is too wily for that and bides his time ... before making a well-timed intervention and nicking the ball off the 2016 Premier League player of the year.
73 min: Gundogan bangs over a freekick from the right, near the corner flag. Jesus flicks it on at the near post in a move inspired by Guardiola’s mentor, George Graham. But no one got on the end of it to complete the hommage.
70 min: Mangala heads Fuchs’ cross out for a corner as the pressure from Leicester increases.
67 min: Chilwell overhits an attempted pass to Vardy. If he’d got the right weight on that, the striker would have been clear on goal!
66 min: Manuel Lagos has sent this wikipedia link to League Cup competitions from around the world, for anyone interested. Feel free to forward it on to Pep Guardiola.
65 min: Gundogan booked for a suspected dive.
64 min: Mahrez rolls a freekick to Maguire, who tries to blem it into the net from 30 yards. It does’t even make it into the box before it’s blocked.
63 min: Play is becoming more open and tempers are rising: League Cup fever has finally taken hold! Mangala cops a telling off for a forceful clash with Okazaki. The home crowd boo because they think the Frenchman should have been booked but, in fact, he did nothing wrong: the collision was robust but fair.
61 min: Silva dashes in behind Fuchs and down the right wing ... and all the way into the box. From near the byline he tries to knock a lateral pass to Jesus, who would just have to tap it into the net from close range .. but Silva pulls the pass behind him!
60 min: Bravo rushes out of his area to smash the ball out of play just before Mahrez could collect the pass over the top.
58 min: Man City play the ball calmly out from the back despite frantic pressing by Leicester. Bravo was particularly cool as Vardy bore down on him.
Leicester substitutions: Mahrez and Vardy on, Albrighton and Iheanacho off. Both of the departed duo had decent games but the changes should amount to an upgrade.
55 min: Mahrez is warming up for Leicester. They’re not giving up on this yet ...
53 min: Jesus flips the bal around to Gundgoan and spins and dashes for the return pass. Hamer dashes out to get there first, with Jesus partially impeded by Dragovic.
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50 min: Fuchs launches another throw into the box. Zinchenko heads it away again, but only as far as the edge of the box. Chilwell jumps in to send a diving header ... over the bar.
49 min: Fuchs hurls a long throw from the left into Man City’s six-yard box. It causes all manner of bother until Zinchenko nuts it away.
47 min: Jesus gets told off by the ref for clipping Maguire from behind. By the way, have you seen the first batch of entries to the Guardian’s latest list of the world’s top 100 players? It was compiled with input from a dazzling array of experts, including bona fide footballing aristocracy such as Ronaldo, Hernan Crespo and Barney Ronay. Go on, have a gander:
46 min: The second half has started so it must finish.
“Regarding the four competitions, surely Pep meant the league, the FA cup, the league cup, and the FA Community Shield (or whatever it’s called these days)?” suggests Justin Kavanagh. “And before you say that that last one isn’t really a competition but a one-off match, bear in mind that you have to win the league (or the FA Cup) to qualify for it, which is more than can be said for the so-called Champions League. Si, Pep knows his English football.” Again, nothing unique about that: lots of countries have equivalents of the Community Shield, including Spain.
Half-time: Leicester 0-1 Man City
Guardiola’s reserves have the lead thanks to a lovely goal but Leicester have taken a decent fight to them since then so this tie is still alive. A thunderous half-time team-talk from Claude Puel could be all it takes to trigger a turnaround ....
45+1 min: There will be at least one more minute before the break. “Do you want a fight?” blurts Sam Hughes à propos of je ne sais quoi. Are you asking whether I hope this match descends into violence? Or are you challenging me to a duel? If it’s the latter, meet me tomorrow at 10am on Winnie the Pooh Street in downtown Warsaw. I’ll be the bloke in the black suit of armour.
43 min: Albrighton bangs another beautiful cross over from the right. No one had anticipated it, bizarrely, so it runs all the way over to Fuchs on the far side. He sends it back into the danger zone, Mangala completely miskicks but Zinchenko manages to whack it away.
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42 min: In today’s other game in this competition, Arsenal have taken a 1-0 lead over West Ham thanks to Danny Welbeck.
40 min: Leicester continue their resurgence as Iheanacho collects the ball some 25 yards out and goes for a goal himself, forcing another decent save fro Bravo. “Who else apart from England has a League Cup?” fumes Oleg Giberstein. “England is the only one who has four competitions - and it’s a silly thing to do!” And yet here you are, following the coverage of this League Cup tie. Although apparently you don’t follow the equivalent competitions in France, Scotland and Portugal, to name a few others.
36 min: Fuchs drops in a fine corner into the six-yard box. Bravo comes off his line and punches well away.
33 min: Fuchs releases Chilwell down the left and the youngsters plays a low ball over to Iheanacho. The Nigerian swaps clever passes with Okazaki in the Man City box, as the defence scramble to cover. Then Iheanacho gets off a a quick first-time sidefooted shot from 10 yards ...and Bravo plunges low to his right to make a smart one-handed save! That’s much more like it from the hosts!
31 min: This Man City side have really begin the thrum in the last 10 minutes or so. Leicester are looking all out of ideas at this point. “When Pep said ‘here you have four competitions” what did he mean?” asks Raimond Skrupsk. I’m guessing he meant the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League, which is, of course, three domestic competitions and a continental one. Which is certainly not unique to England.
28 min: After cute work by Diaz, Foden curls a delicious cross in from the left. Leicester put it out for a corner with great difficulty. But they clear the corner more easily.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Man City (Silva 26)
Gundogan won the ball in the centre circle and embarked on a long run forward. Jesus dragged a couple of defenders away with a decoy run. Then, as he approached the box, Gundogan poked a ball through to Silva, arriving in support to his left. And the Portuguese poked the ball past the advancing Hamer and into the net. Swift and deadly.
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23 min: Danilo leaves a back pass short, obliging Bravo to charge out of his area and try to punt clear. Iheanacho chases after it ... the keeper gets to it first and boots the ball away and then jumps to avoid a hefty collision with Iheanacho, which suggests the ref didn’t see quite what happened: the striker did nothing wrong “The action photo at the top of your blog suggests that the EFL is still using the ball that Pep Guardiola called “highly unacceptable” after a match in a previous round,” chirps Peter Oh. “Please keep an eye on Pep for any expressions of contempt, disgust, or nausea when an errant ball goes into the away side’s technical area.” He was actually asked about that before this match and said he is now happy with the ball: he didn’t say why.
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20 min: Man City take a corner short and work the ball eventually to Foden, who tries a long-range shot. It takes a nick off Iborra and dribbles out for another corner. Adarabioyo shows strength and determination to get to the out-swinger before Fuchs, but he heads wide from eight yards.
19 min: Gundogan exchanges passes with Silva down the right an then shapes to cross. But instead he goes for a cheeky lob and darn near catches Hamer out from 25 yards! The keeper backpedals quickly and pushes it over the bar for a corner.
17 min: Zinchenko - playing out of position at left-back, much like Fabian Delph - gets caught by a quick ball over the top. Albrighton sprints down the right and delivers a typically fine cross. Okaaki, scampering in at speed, can’t get above the ball to guide his header downwards from nine yards.
14 min: Panic breaks out at the back for Leicester! Hamer came to intercept near the edge of the area but the ball rolled out so he could not pick it up, and Gundogan stole it and got off a quick shot. Maguire - the only defender between Gundogan and the goal - blocked the shot. Hamer got back in time to thwart Silva’s follow-up effort.
12 min: After much drab probing, Man City get in, courtesy of an error by Fuchs. Silva darted in to the left of the box and fired at goal, obliging Hamer to make a decent save.
8 min: Amartey does well to muscle in front of Diaz and regain possession before the tricky winger could cross from the left.
6 min: Top pressing by Leicester, as iheanacho and Albrighton threaten to dispossess Mangala at the edge of his own area. But the defender uses his strength to hold them off and create just enough room to boot the ball out for a throw-in, which is less than Leicester looked like they might get.
4 min: “If you squint, Man City’s no35 looks a bit like de Bruyne,” notes Michael George, and he’s not wrong The No35 is the 21-year-old Ukrainian left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko. But if you’re looking for someone who could produce deliveries as sumptuous as De Bruyne today, Marc Albrighton could be your man.
2 min: A pattern has formed: can you guess what it is? That’s right, Man City are dominating possession and the home City are coiling deep and looking to counter, presumably.
1 min: Leicester kick off ... and big the ball straight out of play: that’s surely a deliberate ploy to annoy Pep - such waste can only hurt his brain.
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The teams stride out on to the pitch and strike their photo poses. Leicester are in Tardis blue, while City wear a lighter shade. All is as it should be. Some players are wearing gloves because it’s cold, which seems perfectly sensible.
The managers speak
Here’s Guardiola on why he changed his lineup so much: “We’re going to try to reach the semi-final ... you cannot play four competitions with the same guys. All around the world countries have three competitions, but here you have four.” Asked what particular advice he has given 17-year-old Phil Foden today, he replies: “Nothing. Play like he knows how to play. Do what he has to do.”
Puel has also spoken. Brace yourselves for fireworks: “It’s a good opportunity for us. We have to put in a good performance of course. Of course it’s difficult.” And there was plenty more where that came from. You’ve had enough, haven’t you?
Teams
So then, we’ve got two improvised teams and apparently City have decided to not even fill their bench, plumping for just the six substitutes rather than the permitted seven. Guardiola has also gone for an inexperienced defence. I don’t really get why Puel hasn’t gone full gun against them: Leicester aren’t in Europe, nor are they in relegation bother, and if they get through this tie, there’s a fair chance of them going on to win the whole shebang. I know their fixture list is chock-a-block but it’d have been nice to see them give this one their full attention. But hey, maybe their backup players will seize this opportunity to prove their worth.
Leicester: Hamer; Amartey, Dragović, Maguire, Fuchs; Albrighton, King, Iborra, Chilwell; Okazaki, Iheanacho.
Subs: Jakupović, Simpson, Benalouane, Gray, Mahrez, Vardy, Ulloa
Man City: Bravo, Zinchenko, Adarabioyo, Mangala, Danilo, Touré, B. Silva, Gündogan, Foden, Díaz, Jesus
Subs: Ederson, Walker, Sané, Nmecha, Duhaney, Dele-Bashiru.
Preamble
Well lookee here, suddenly it’s up to the League Cup to make English football appear competitive again. With Manchester City drumming out party beats on the bowed heads of everyone in the Premier League - 16 rhythmic thrashing in a row and counting - this is the only domestic competition in which Pep Guardiola’s jolly artistes have been knocked a little out of their groove, Wolves holding them to a frustrating 0-0 in the last round before losing on penalties. What chance Leicester going the whole hog today and knocking them out of the actual tourney?
Very little, if we are to judge by Leicester’s most recent performance, which was an outstandingly limp display against Crystal Palace. But perhaps that was but a glitch and they will today return to playing the slick jive that Claude Puel had taught them prior to that? Remember that the Frenchman came within one bad refereeing decision of winning this competition last season, which is a lot closer than Guardiola has got so far to lifting an English trophy, although City are, of course, on schedule to clinch this season’s Premier League by early January or thereabouts. Today’s lineups will probably show this competition isn’t a priority for either City but it’s not one they’ll want to sacrifice cheaply, all the same. In other words, belter ahoy! Maybe.
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