Carabao Cup Thriller: Man City and Liverpool Survive Shoot-outs, Sunderland Advances to Quarter-finals

Manchester City and Liverpool both navigated tense penalty shoot-outs to secure their spots in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after a dramatic night of football. Holders Manchester City were pushed to their limits, twice coming from behind against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium before ultimately triumphing 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

Malick Yalcouye put Brighton ahead in the 30th minute, but Mateo Kovacic responded with a long-range strike before halftime. Georginio Rutter restored Brighton's lead shortly after the restart, only for Vitor Reis to equalize in the 72nd minute, diverting a Rayan Cherki free-kick into the net. Brighton had opportunities to win the match in normal time, with Rutter hitting the crossbar, but stand-in City goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli proved to be the decisive figure in the shootout. After Mateo Kovacic's penalty was saved, Rulli made successive saves against Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to send the holders through.

City manager Enzo Maresca commented on Rulli's performance, stating, "Apart from the penalties, overall he was good." He described the game as "chaotic, but overall we controlled it quite good." Maresca also revealed that his players had not practiced penalties since he took over from Pep Guardiola in the summer. "Since I am here, we've never practised it," Maresca said. "They are all good, but it always happens that the one that scored during the game [Kovacic] missed the penalty. I was happy with the way we planned the game, the rotation and very happy with the ones playing inside the pitch." Manchester City will face Bradford City in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, at Anfield, Liverpool narrowly defeated Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after another 1-1 draw, concluding Xabi Alonso's return to the club where he previously played for five seasons. Chelsea took the lead in the 40th minute when Morgan Rogers converted a penalty following a foul by Ryan Gravenberch on Moises Caicedo. Liverpool equalized three minutes later when Cody Gakpo scored from the spot after Wesley Fofana handled a corner. Neither team could find a winning goal in regulation time, leading to a lengthy penalty shootout. Both sides missed chances to secure victory before Fofana missed Chelsea's decisive penalty, blasting it over the crossbar.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola remarked, "At the end in the cup competitions, what matters is that you are in the next round and you are in the draw. Lucky for us finishing the right side of the penalty shootout. The players have done a very big effort today and at least we get the reward of being in the quarter-finals." Liverpool, who have now won their last three League Cup encounters with Chelsea, will host Iraola's former side Bournemouth in the quarter-finals, after Bournemouth defeated Aston Villa 3-0. "Honestly, I was talking before the draw and I said, ‘The only team I don’t want is Bournemouth.’ For me, it’s special. They know me very well; they are playing very well lately, in a good moment."

Sunderland put their Premier League struggles aside to secure a place in the last eight with a 3-2 victory over Brentford. The Black Cats established a commanding 3-0 lead with three goals in 13 minutes at the Stadium of Light. Chemsdine Talbi opened the scoring in the 26th minute, followed by Tymur Tutierov tapping home a Joceline Ta Bi pass three minutes later. Ta Bi was again instrumental, crossing for Malick Fofana to head home in the 39th minute. Brentford managed to pull one goal back before halftime through former Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson, who bundled a volley into the bottom corner. Igor Thiago reduced the deficit further in injury time, but it was not enough to prevent Sunderland from booking a quarter-final tie against Crystal Palace.