After four consecutive titles in the competition, Manchester City were eliminated in the English League Cup by falling on penalties (5-3 after a 0-0 draw) in the round of 16 against West Ham, this Wednesday.
With 65% possession of the ball and 25 shots, City was superior to its adversary, but failed in the effectiveness against a London team that in the previous round had already defeated the other great Manchester club, United, which they surpassed 1-0 at Old Trafford.
You have to go back to five years and one day, October 26, 2016, to find City’s previous defeat in the League Cup. Then it was at Old Trafford against José Mourinho’s Manchester United (1-0), at this very point in the tournament.
West Ham will therefore be one of the most fearsome formations in the quarterfinals, whose draw will take place on Saturday. The matches for that round are scheduled for December 21-22.
With this victory, West Ham confirms its good start to the season. In the Premier League he is fourth, within the ‘Champions zone’.
– “Nothing is eternal” –
At City, coach Josep Guardiola was resigned.
“Nothing is eternal. We have fought hard to win, and win, and win this competition again, “explained the Catalan coach.
“Achieving it four times in a row is a great achievement and next season we will try again,” he promised.
The round of 16 of the League Cup had started on Tuesday, with the logical rankings of Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as that of Sunderland, which is currently in the third division.
This Wednesday, except for the City crash, there were no surprises.
Liverpool presented a kind of ‘B team’, with regular substitutes and without Alisson, Trent Alexander Arnold, Andy Robertson, Virgil Van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota. It was enough to beat Preston North End 2-0, ranked 19th (out of 24) in the second division.
The goals of the ‘Reds’ were achieved by Takumi Minamino (1-0, 62) and by Divok Origi (2-0, 84).
In the other games, Tottenham met the minimum to beat 19th in the Premier League, Burnley, thanks to Brazilian Lucas Moura (1-0, 68), while Brentford beat 2-1 at Stoke ( 2nd division).
Leicester had to resort to penalties to eliminate Brighton (4-2 after a 2-2 draw).