(Football news) In a shocking result, Carabao Cup favourites Manchester City were knocked out after a 2-0 defeat to Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium. The Saints opened the scoring through Sekou Mara in the 23rd minute and doubled their advantage just five minutes later through Moussa Djenepo who caught goalkeeper Stefan Ortega out of his line with a 30 yard volley. Pep Guardiola’s team were uncharacteristically sloppy, squandering possession and the Spaniard will be concerned before their local derby against Manchester United.

Manchester City didn’t feature Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in the starting lineup but they were brought on to salvage the match, but to no avail as the visitors couldn’t even get a single shot on target throughout the game. It was the first time Manchester City failed to progress from a domestic quarter-final clash, winning the last 15 including the last nine since Guardiola took over the job.

In team news, Southampton’s Nathan Jones made five changes with Moussa Djenepo, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ibrahima Diallo, Romeo Lavia and Sekou Mara featuring in the starting lineup. As for City, Guardiola made four changes from their win against Chelsea in the FA Cup with Joao Cancelo, Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish featuring in the team.

“Who knows whether with Kevin and Erling it would have been different? I don’t know. We tried to do our best and we rotated the team when we played against Chelsea after the Premier League and it’s good. I understand how this business works. Always we try to have everybody involved and everybody has to do it but today was not the case.

“I had the feeling today it doesn’t matter what line-up I am selecting, we are performing this way. Don’t ask me why. This is my experience. It doesn’t matter today the line-up we choose, it would happen because we were not here. And that’s why when this happens, they deserve it.” – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola

“I don’t know if I changed perceptions. Within 10 minutes of the Brighton game, I was inept. The non-League manager criticised me the other day. It baffled me. I don’t speak about Havant & Waterlooville. I don’t speak about levels I don’t know about. I’m really pleased with the performance, I thought we were excellent as a team.

“We were aggressive, we were organised, we went after the game, it wasn’t a smash and grab. I’m proud of the players and proud of the staff. I’ve had people calling me out, I’ve even had non-League managers calling me out saying I’m not good enough. It’s a proud moment for me. To be on the same level as him (Guardiola) is wonderful, it’s what I’ve worked very, very hard over my 33-year career to do.

“I’ve believed I’ve earned the right to be here. Whether people think I’m good enough or not doesn’t really affect me because I’ve been questioned at every level I’ve been at and I like to respond. It’s been tough but it’s what you’re paid for as a manager.” – Southampton manager Nathan Jones

Also read: Carabao Cup: Manchester United defeat Charlton to progress into the semi-finals