Pep Guardiola has admitted Southampton were the better team after the Saints dumped Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup.
City's hopes of Carabao Cup success were quashed after they were on the wrong end of a shock 2-0 scoreline at Saint Mary's following goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo within the space of five first-half minutes.
The visitors rung out the changes for their starting line-up, but once they quickly realised this was going to be far more of a fight that first expected Guardiola swiftly brought on City's big-hitters, including talismen Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
After the game, Guardiola told 5Live: "The better team won. We didn't play good, we didn't play well in the beginning. There are many games you can start not good and overcome and we didn't do it."
The City boss went on to shed light on why he felt his players were never going to secure the win, adding: "When you are not prepared to play this game you arrive one inch late and don't score a goal. When you are prepared you score the goal.
"Today was a bad night, the opponent was better so we have to congratulate them. To win games you have to deserve it and tonight we didn't deserve it."
City are usually such a force in the Carabao Cup and have won four in a row during Guardiola's reign from the 2017/18 season to the 2020/21 campaign. There will be no such glory this time around, as one of the leakiest defences in the division managed to restrict a team of City's attacking prowess.
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Remarkably, even with the likes of Haaland and recently crowned World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, City failed to muster up a single shot on target over the course of 97 hard-fought minutes. This is the first time that has occured since April 2018.
Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, once of City, was a passenger for so much of the contest. The hosts were well worth the win, having managed to evade the period of sustained pressure so many expected to come.
Southampton have endured a miserable league season so far but are clearly finding solace in the cups, with this surprise victory coming off the back of a 2-1 away win over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup last weekend.
As for City, this defeat ends one avenue to secure silverware this season. They currently sit five points behind Arsenal in the Premier League and have a date with the Gunners lined up for the fourth round of the FA Cup, meaning progression there is by no means guaranteed.
Their local rivals Manchester United will be jumping for joy at City's elimination from the Carabao Cup, as the Red Devils will now surely fancy their chances of ending their six-year wait for a trophy.
