Congratulations to Manchester City, who make it through to the semi-finals tonight along with third-tier Burton Albion. Meanwhile commiserations to Leicester City, who showed heart to claw their way back into the game, only to fall short in the penalty shootout. All that’s left is for me to point you in the direction of Stuart James’ match report. Sweet dreams, everyone!
And also into the last four are Burton Albion …
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Pep talks! “It was a tough game. We played with two players who could not play 70 minutes, we played with a guy who is 19 years old and 20 years old. We make a quite good performance, and had chances to close the game.” And then he’s asked about his old pal Jose. “I am always sad for the managers, we are alone. In football it happens. He is always strong, and I wish him all the best. And soon he is going to come back and we are going to play again!”
City’s goalscoring hero Kevin De Bruyne speaks. “It is a relief. It was a little bit difficult, we had a lot of players who didn’t play a lot, but we did a good game. It was an open game, and in the end our keeper helped us to the semi-final. He has veins of ice! It is a beautiful moment for him. We want to win titles, we know it’s two games more, but we can battle again for another trophy!”
Meanwhile their deadpan goalkeeping hero Aro Muric makes it all sound so easy. “I waited for the ball, and reacted. I was waiting for them. And then I saved them. It’s a great feeling!”
Meanwhile up at the Riverside, Burton Albion beaten Middlesbrough 1-0 to reach their first-ever major semi-final! They’ll look forward to a two-legged tie against one of Arsenal, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur ... or the holders and English champions Manchester City! Don’t say the League Cup doesn’t matter.
FULL TIME: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City (Man City win 3-1 on penalties)
So Leicester deservedly hauled the holders level in the second half, only to blow it in the shoot-out with a series of awful penalty kicks. Pep Guardiola looks extremely pleased as his side make it to the semis yet again. Don’t say the League Cup doesn’t matter. If it’s good enough for Pep ...
Penalties: Leicester City 1-3 Manchester City. Zinchenko whip-cracks one into the top left, Ward left with no chance. And City are through!
Penalties: Leicester City 1-2 Manchester City. Soyuncu slides a weak one towards the bottom right. Muric is always getting it. Manchester City are one penalty away from the semis.
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Penalties: Leicester City 1-2 Manchester City. Jesus stutters as well, and slips too, but slams his effort into the bottom left nonetheless. He ended up in the press-up position, like Mitch Hedberg’s dog, after that!
Penalties: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City. Maddison stutters in his run-up and scuffs an awful kick towards the bottom left. Muric stops it easily. These penalties have been dreadful so far, even the ones that have gone in!
Penalties: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City. Sterling tries a Panenka ... but overcooks it dreadfully, sending it sailing softly and miserably over the bar! Oh dear.
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Penalties: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City. Fuchs ... well, write your own headline, because he hoicks one over the bar while looking for the top left.
Penalties: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City. Gundogan takes a short, three-step run-up. It squeaks into the bottom right. Ward got a hand to that.
Penalties: Leicester City 1-0 Manchester City. Maguire takes the first spot kick, and sends it towards the bottom left. Muric got a touch, but Maguire hit it just about hard enough.
FULL TIME: Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City
Indeed we are! Marc Albrighton’s magnificent second-half goal keeps Leicester alive. It’s spot-kick drama for us!
90 min +2: Otamendi barges into Gray, and it’s a free kick out on the right. Maddison launches it into the Manchester City box. The ball momentarily threatens to drop to Soyuncu, then Maguire, but not quite. Jesus threatens on the counter, but he’s robbed by the superb Choudhury and it looks like this quarter final is going to penalty kicks!
90 min +1: Sterling chases after a long diagonal right-to-left pass, hoping to get into the Leicester box. But Simpson nips in to head back to Ward.
90 min: There will be three added minutes. Drama is now guaranteed, one way or another.
89 min: Walker and Gundogan combine down the inside-right channel, but the latter can’t keep a return pass in play, and that’s a pressure-relieving goal kick.
88 min: Gray one-twos with Maddison, and very nearly breaks clear through the middle. But Muric has read the danger, and races from his area to intercept. A reminder that this will go straight to penalties unless someone finds a dramatic late winner. Both sides are going for it.
86 min: Gundogan is booked for clattering into the back of Maddison, who really has made a difference since coming on. He’s some talent. The ball’s hoicked into the box, Ricardo earning a corner, from which nothing comes. The home side are beginning to fancy their chances of snatching this.
84 min: In between the Choudhary challenge on Jesus and the VAR check, City nearly scored anyway, Gundogan released down the inside right and flashing a shot wide under pressure from behind. Who’d put that pressure on? That man Choudhary, who has been excellent tonight.
83 min: Choudhary takes his eye off the ball, 25 yards out. The loose control allows Jesus to scamper off towards the area. Choudhary recovers enough to get a small nick on the ball, bundling Jesus over as he does. Manchester City want a penalty kick, but they’re not getting it, not even after a VAR check. Not a clear and obvious error.
81 min: Kelechi Iheanacho won’t be grabbing a winner against his former club; he’s replaced by Ricardo.
79 min: Mahrez makes good down the right and earns a corner. Gundogan takes. It’s too long. Jesus then nearly crowbars Leicester apart with a delightfully dainty spin on the byline, but having pirouetted his way past two tight markers, he runs out of space. Shame, because if that had resulted in a goal, you’d be seeing it again and again and again.
77 min: Manchester City will wonder how they’ve been pegged back, given the chances they’ve created. But this is where we all are. Foden tries to respond by driving towards the Leicester box and slipping a pass right for Mahrez. The former Leicester winger has options in the middle, but tries to curl a low one around Ward and into the bottom left. Close, but it flies wide.
75 min: That’s got the King Power jumping. And it’s caused Pep Guardiola to make one last change, throwing on Gabriel Jesus, last weekend’s two-goal hero, in place of the spent Sergio Aguero.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City (Albrighton 73)
The substitute levels it! Ndidi, quarterbacking from deep, to the left of the centre circle, floats a diagonal pass towards Albrighton, who nips in behind Zinchenko, takes a touch, and lashes an unstoppable shot across Muric and into the top left! That’s a picture-book goal!
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71 min: Kevin De Bruyne’s had a good run out this evening, after all that time on the sidelines. Ilkay Gundogan comes on to give him a rest.
69 min: Walker bundles Ndidi to the ground, 35 yards from the Manchester City goal out left, and this is an opportunity for Leicester to load the box. Maddison takes the free kick, and instead of looping it towards the big lads, he plays a cute pass down the inside-left channel to release Iheanacho into the box! Iheanacho must get a shot away, but hesitates, tries to check and turn, and is dispossessed by De Bruyne. What a chance for Leicester to get back into this!
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67 min: Sterling is straight into the action, skedaddling down the inside left. He nips the ball inside for Aguero, who rolls it to Foden, who further shuttles it to Mahrez, just to the right of the D. Foden has teed it up perfectly, allowing Mahrez to whip one towards the top left. He’ll be disappointed to have flashed it over the bar.
66 min: Manchester City make their first change of the evening, and Raheem replaces Brahim; it’s Sterling for Diaz.
65 min: Albrighton earns a corner off Zinchenko down the right. Maddison whips it in. It’s half cleared. Maddison has another go. Maguire, on the penalty spot, looks to send a header into the top right, but there’s no oomph behind his effort and Muric claims with a yawn.
63 min: De Bruyne races into the Leicester half with purpose. The hosts are light at the back and De Bruyne has options either side. He slips the pass wide left for Diaz, who skitters into the area and looks to bend one into the top right. His shot is blocked, and the resulting corner is a waste of time. The visitors have had a couple of chances to put this to bed. Not yet.
61 min: Leicester make their second change of the evening, Marc Albrighton coming on for the intermittently impressive Vicente Iborra.
60 min: Otamendi misjudges a long hoick down the middle of the park and nearly lets in Ndidi. The ball skids off the wet grass and through to Muric. Leicester are stirring into action.
59 min: Leicester are enjoying much more of the ball: they’ve had 54% of it in the last ten minutes, and it’s not often Manchester City are second best in that department. But it’s all sterile domination. They’ve still to test Muric.
57 min: A determined burst by Gray down the right. He hooks into the centre, but Iborra can’t time his jump to meet the cross. That’s got the crowd going again.
55 min: That small boost aside, the game’s suddenly gone a bit flat.
53 min: Leicester need to raise their game, so on comes James Maddison in place of Rachid Ghezzal. It’s a popular move with the home support.
51 min: A shock brewing in tonight’s other quarter-final at the Riverside, where Burton Albion have taken the lead against Middlesbrough.
50 min: Foden slides through the back of Gray, and quite rightly goes in the book. A needless challenge in the centre circle, with Gray going nowhere in particular.
49 min: De Bruyne strides down the right and wins a corner off Maguire. Leicester clear the set piece, but Manchester City look to be in the mood to finish this one off.
47 min: Soyuncu plays a poor pass out of defence to Iborra, who stumbles. Mahrez latches onto the loose ball and plays it straight down the inside-right channel for Aguero, who is onside. He draws Ward and looks for the bottom left, but the keeper stays big and parries brilliantly to keep the hosts in it.
Leicester City get the second half underway! No half-time changes.
Half-time schadenfreude. “Mourinho himself has seemed to be fraying a little in recent weeks, resembling in his post-match interviews a particularly haggard and doomed minor European aristocrat hurled up against the palace wall by a cabal of Bolsheviks and asked to explain his extravagant misuse of the public purse.” A treat for Manchester City fans, in the form of more award-winning brilliance from our man Barney Ronay.
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HALF TIME: Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne’s back, then.
44 min: Diaz jinks in from the right. He enters the Leicester box and goes over near Ndidi; there’s a half-shout for a penalty. A quick check with VAR, and it’s nothing doing. Diaz didn’t dive, his feet got in an awful tangle, but Ndidi wasn’t a factor.
43 min: Mahrez romps into a lot of space down the right and wins a corner for the visitors. The corner’s half cleared. Mahrez then had a dribble down the left, and crosses low towards the near post. Ward is forced to tip round for a corner, which comes to nothing.
41 min: Leicester pin Manchester City back, crosses coming in from both wings as Iborra, Gray and Ndidi busy themselves. Eventually Ndidi’s work down the left earns a corner. Maguire gets on the end of this one as well, but swings a leg at it and sends it high and wide.
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39 min: Gray, in a tight spot out by the left corner flag, drops a shoulder and sashays around Garcia. It’s a glorious piece of close control, and he’s brought down for his trouble. A free kick that’s essentially a corner. It’s hoicked into the box, and Maguire nearly brings it down, six yards from goal. But the big defender can’t get a shot away, and the flag eventually goes up for an offside. Just for a split second, though, Manchester City looked in a spot of bother there.
37 min: De Bruyne spins in the centre circle and cracks a pass wide left for Diaz, who is in acres and plans to instantly slide Aguero clear with a ball back inside. But the flag goes up for offside. That looked pretty tight.
35 min: Ndidi comes sliding in through the back of Mahrez. He’s slightly fortunate to escape a booking. To be fair, the foul looked more a result of the conditions than anything malicious, but you’ve seen referees whip the card out.
33 min: Ineanacho dribbles in from the right, makes a little space to shoot, and looks for the top left with a curler. It’s high over the bar. But a little better from Leicester, who have, one deflected shot apart, yet to test Muric.
32 min: Muric waltzes out of his area to deal with a long Leicester ball. He looks as confident with his feet as Ederson. What a squad Manchester City have.
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30 min: Foden releases Aguero down the inside-left channel with a gorgeous pass. But before the inevitable can unfold, the flag goes up for offside.
29 min: This is some filthy weather. It’s not quite as bad as this Filbert Street classic, though. Not yet, anyway.
27 min: Foden’s cross from the left is bundled out for a corner by Soyuncu, who then deals with the set piece as well. Manchester City are slowly reestablishing their dominance after that brief burst of Leicester pressure.
26 min: Choudhury goes crunching in on Zinchenko. Hard but fair, the sort of challenge everyone in the ground felt. Zinchenko grimaces in pain but picks himself up and doesn’t complain. It’s the sort of night for spectacular sliding tackles all right.
24 min: Zinchenko bursts down the middle of the park and really should shoot from 25 yards. He’s got time and space. But he opts to lay off to De Bruyne, who shuttles the ball wide right for Walker. The cross that’s eventually delivered is way too heavy, and Aguero isn’t able to keep it in play. Leicester afforded De Bruyne way too much time for the goal; they made the same mistake again here.
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22 min: This is better from Leicester, though, as they come back at Manchester City again. Gray has a whack from 20 yards. The ball clips Garcia’s heel and looks to be heading into the bottom right. Maybe it was hitting the post. Either way, Muric needs to fingertip it round the post; a fine save. Nothing comes of the corner.
21 min: Fuchs blooters long. Iheanacho wonders if he’s offside, but the flag doesn’t go up so he dribbles on. But he can’t sort his feet out for a shot from the edge of the area, allowing Garcia and Otamendi to combine to close him down.
19 min: Maguire brings De Bruyne down just outside the Leicester area to the right. Mahrez really wants his goal here, but blasts the free kick witlessly into the wall. This is all Manchester City right now.
17 min: Diaz jinks and dribbles down the left. He sends a curler goalwards, but it’s deflected to the right, where Mahrez blazes over from close range. So close to a goal on his return to his old stomping ground.
16 min: The Manchester City section breaks into Blue Moon. Before the goal went in, they were entertaining themselves with a chorus of “Bring back Mourinho.”
GOAL! Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City (De Bruyne 14)
It has now! De Bruyne jinks in from the left, nipping past Choudhury and lashing a shot straight into the bottom left from 20 yards, simple as that! Ward’s late reaction might have been a bit questionable, but take nothing away from the crisp brilliance of the strike. De Bruyne’s back, baby!
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13 min: A throw for Manchester City deep in the Leicester half. Zinchenko flings it straight out for a goal kick. Ward hoicks that out of play for a throw. This game hasn’t quite got going yet.
11 min: It is absolutely hosing down in Leicester. Iborra attempts to release Iheanacho down the middle with a scooped pass, but Otamendi reads the danger.
9 min: Diaz threatens to scamper clear into the Leicester area down the left. Chowdhury is wise to what’s going on and slides in, putting an end to any hopes of a shot but conceding a corner. The resulting set piece is cleared. Just for a second, Leicester looked dangerously open there.
7 min: Muric and Garcia over-elaborate while playing out from the back; Manchester City fans may remember Jordan Pickford and Yerry Mina coming unstuck like this on Saturday. Ndidi is pressing hard, and nearly nicks the ball off Garcia, but the ball clanks out for a goal kick. Lucky Manchester City.
6 min: Fuchs slides in on Mahrez, who was going nowhere down the inside-right channel. De Bruyne curls the resulting free kick into the area. Stones, Aguero and Otamendi are all free, ten yards out. But none of them go for the header. Strange. Ah, hold on, they might have been miles offside. So there you go.
4 min: Manchester City stroke it around for a bit. Suddenly there’s space for Zinchenko out on the left. He curls low into the area. Soyuncu nearly makes a hash of clearing, but eventually gets it away with a second swipe.
2 min: An awful lot of space for Gray down the Leicester left. He tears past Otamendi, reaching the byline with ease. He whips low into the middle, but Garcia has read the danger and nips in ahead of Iheanacho to intercept. An exciting run by the excellent Gray.
And we’re off! The visitors get the ball rolling, and stroke it around awhile. John Stones appears to be playing in centre midfield, with 17-year-old Eric Garcia taking his usual spot at the back.
The teams are out! It’s a miserable, rainy night in Leicester, though the King Power looks pretty under the floodlights nonetheless. The home side are in their usual royal blue shirts, while the visitors wear their first-choice sky blue. A reminder that there’s no replay, and no extra time tonight; we’ll go straight to penalty kicks if it ends in a draw. And the VAR system is in operation too. We’ll be off in a minute!
Claude Puel speaks! “I think we have a competitive team. We have quality and confidence in our play. We know we play a team with a lot of quality, they will have a lot of the ball. But we can give our best.”
Pep adds! “We will see how long Sergio and Kevin play. They have trained not too much, so hopefully as much as possible. Everyone is desperate to play.”
The usual plethora of changes for the League Cup. Leicester City make seven adjustments to the team sent out at Crystal Palace last weekend. There’s no Kasper Schmeichel or Jamie Vardy at all; Wes Morgan, James Maddison, Marc Albrighton, Ricardo Pereira and Nampalys Mendy drop to the bench. In come Danny Ward, Danny Simpson, Caglar Soyuncu, Hamza Choudhury, Vicente Iborra, Rachid Ghezzal and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Manchester City make eight changes to the starting XI named against Everton on Saturday. Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan, Fabian Delph and Gabriel Jesus drop to the bench; Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho and Leroy Sane miss out altogether. In come Arijanet Muric, John Stones, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Alexander Zinchenko, Phil Foden, Eric Garcia and Brahim Diaz.
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The teams
Leicester City: Ward, Simpson, Soyuncu, Maguire, Fuchs, Iborra, Choudhury, Ndidi, Ghezzal, Iheanacho, Gray.
Subs: Morgan, Maddison, Albrighton, Ricardo Pereira, Jakupovic, Okazaki, Mendy.
Manchester City: Muric, Walker, Garcia, Otamendi, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Stones, Foden, Mahrez, Aguero, Diaz.
Subs: Nmecha, Sterling, Gundogan, Delph, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Sandler.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
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Preamble
Well wasn’t that a day to remember? But life goes on in Manchester, and as managerless United contemplate their next move, rivals City tonight take on Leicester City at the King Power in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
The hosts hope to make it to the semis for the first time since 1999-2000. But that could prove a big ask. They’ve lost all four of their previous League Cup ties with Manchester City, who beat them at this stage both last season and in 2013-14. They’ll most likely not face a weakened team, either, with Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne expected to get some sort of run-out on their journeys back from injury. Leicester’s old boy Riyad Mahrez could also play, too.
On the flip side, Leicester have yet to concede a goal in this season’s League Cup. And they’ve got history in this competition, having won it in 1964, 1997 and 2000. Can Claude Puel’s side pay homage to the Martin O’Neill years? Or will Pep Guardiola keep a grip on the trophy they won last season? It promises to be a cracker. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm GMT.
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