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Manchester City edged Brighton in a penalty shootout at the Etihad Stadium after a thrilling 2-2 draw to secure their place in the 2026-27 League Cup quarter-finals.
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Malick Yalcouye and Georginio Rutter scored for Brighton, while Mateo Kovacic and Vitor Reis found the net for City to force the contest into a penalty shootout.
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City coach Enzo Maresca praised Rulli’s performance but insisted that Gianluigi Donnarumma’s position as the team’s first-choice goalkeeper was not under threat.
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Stand-in goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli made two crucial penalty saves against Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to help City seal victory and book their place in the last eight.
October 29, (THEWILL) – Manchester City recorded a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Brighton at the Etihad Stadium to qualify for the 2026-27 League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Stand-in goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was the hero for the hosts with two penalty saves in the shootout to lead his side to the last eight.
Malick Yalcouye opened the scoring for Brighton with a close-range shot in the 30th minute.
Mateo Kovacic restored parity for Man City from the edge of the box 10 minutes later to end the first half 1-1.
Two minutes after the restart, Georginio Rutter restored Brighton’s lead with a first-time finish to make it 2-1.
Vitor Reis poked in an equaliser in the 72nd minute, but neither side could score a winner as the game went into penalties.
Rullli saved penalties from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to lead Man City to victory.
Man City coach, Enzo Maresca, was delighted with Rullli’s performance, while also stating that Donnarumma’s place is not threatened.
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He said: “I think overall he was good, especially in the build-up. It was not easy because they are a team that goes man to man, aggressive.
“He made, also, one good save during the game and he was good.
“No, absolutely not from my point of view.
“He’s working well, but he knows exactly his role and there is not any doubt about that. Absolutely no doubt.
“I was happy with the way we planned the game, with the rotation; especially I was very, very happy with the ones on the pitch.
“Brighton are in a brilliant moment. They score many goals every game so we knew it was going to be tough. We could have done better defensively. But we only started three months ago with this project.
“We have many things we can do better. The game was chaotic but overall we controlled it quite well.
“Brighton always go front foot, man to man. It will be the same on Saturday.
“This is a different competition, but the ambition has to be the same. We need to do our business, which is winning games. At the moment we’re doing that.
“I was happy with the way we planned the game, the rotation. I was very happy with the ones that played.”
Man City will take on Bradford City in the quarter-finals on December 15.
Brighton and Man City will clash again in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
