Manchester City survived a scare to keep their bid for a third straight Carabao Cup on track as they booked their spot in the final, despite a 1-0 defeat to rivals Manchester United at the Etihad.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg at Old Trafford, City were expected to have few problems confirming a Wembley meeting with Aston Villa, but a first half strike from Nemanja Matic, who was later sent off, proved the only goal of the game as the hosts eventually won 3-2 on aggregate.
Pep Guardiola’s side lined up in an unorthodox formation, with Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi and Joao Cancelo in a back three and Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan as a pair of sitting midfielders.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, meanwhile, employed a similar tactic to that used against Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month, with Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams doubling up on the left in a back five.
City’s bizarre shape and relentless press had United rattled in an opening in which David De Gea kept the tie alive, first diving to claw away Sergio Aguero’s header, before reacting smartly with his feet to keep out Riyad Mahrez’s deflected shot.
Gradually, United gained a foothold, but it was still firmly against the run of play when they took the lead on 35 minutes as Matic crashed home a wonderful left-footed strike after Fred’s free-kick delivery had only been half-cleared.
City thought they had levelled shortly before the break when Raheem Sterling finished off a wonderful move, sidefooting home from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross, but the linesman’s flag was correctly raised.
Having opened his United account in the FA Cup win at Tranmere, Harry Maguire went close to levelling the tie soon after the restart, heading just over from Fred’s cross, before Sterling wasted a glorious chance to give City breathing space, hesitating and blazing over having being sent through by De Bruyne.
With the Etihad growing nervy, Guardiola sent the experience and composure of David Silva into mix to try and calm things but instead he too became flustered, blowing a glorious chance to seal the result when gifted the ball eight yards out by Maguire and unfathomably electing to pass rather than shoot.
Instead it would be Matic, the man whose goal had breathed life into the tie, who helped City over the line as he was sent off for a second yellow card after halting Gundogan’s run on the break.
There was still time for the linesman’s flag to deny City once more, Aguero’s exquisite finish from Rodri’s pass chalked off.
