{"id":660321,"date":"2026-10-29T05:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/660321\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T05:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:36:21","slug":"rullis-heroics-earn-manchester-city-shootout-success-against-brighton-carabao-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/660321\/","title":{"rendered":"Rulli\u2019s heroics earn Manchester City shootout success against Brighton | Carabao Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

After J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku\u2019s second-half substitute appearance transformed Manchester City<\/a> into a high-octane proposition, the smart money was on the momentum continuing into a victorious penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

So it proved as Enzo Maresca\u2019s men triumphed 4-3, Ger\u00f3nimo Rulli the hero: his save from Lewis Dunk\u2019s fifth spot-kick was decisive, the Argentinean also having repelled Yasin Ayari\u2019s fourth effort.<\/p>\n

While Jason Steele kept out Mateo Kovacic\u2019s attempt, City progressed after Brighton twice took the lead \u2013 via Malick Yalcouy\u00e9 and Georginio Rutter \u2013 before being pegged back by Kovacic and Vitor Reis.<\/p>\n

Maresca was left beaming: \u201cSince I\u2019m here we never practised penalties,\u201d said the City manager. \u201cIt always happens that the one that scored in the 90 minutes [Kovacic] misses the penalty. I am very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Doku, he said: \u201cHe made an impact. This is the reason they are there. J\u00e9r\u00e9my and the rest \u2013 to try to do their best, if they start from the beginning or if they come in from the bench try to make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tie might have gone either way, so the lottery of penalties felt apt to decide who went through before Saturday\u2019s rematch back here in the league. City will now play League One Bradford in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched all [Brighton\u2019s] Premier League games and since the first day they always go front foot, man to man, so they\u2019re going to be exactly the same on Saturday,\u201d Maresca said.<\/p>\n

His opposite number spoke of vengeance. \u201cWe lost in a shootout. We had enough chances to win the game \u2013 they had the luck today. We have to reset. We have a great chance on Saturday to take revenge,\u201d said Fabian H\u00fcrzeler.<\/p>\n

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Brighton will stay up in the area. \u201cNot sleeping in your own bed is not an advantage,\u201d said the manager. \u201cBut we\u2019ll go there with full energy and ready to go on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Yalcouy\u00e9 opened the scoring there was the proverbial hint of offside about the forward as his shot pinged off Rulli and in.<\/p>\n

With no video assistant referee in the Carabao Cup<\/a> the goal stood, though it was soon cancelled out by Kovacic: Phil Foden fed him and, from the edge of the penalty area, he threaded the ball beyond Steele low into the left corner.<\/p>\n

Georginio Rutter fires Brighton into a second-half lead. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole\/Offside\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

For the second half Maresca introduced Rayan A\u00eft-Nouri and Ryan McAidoo for Ayyoub Bouaddi and Floyd Samba. Instantly, though, City conceded: Brighton slipped through the lines with ease, and Jaouen Hadjam\u2019s cross was slid in by Rutter.<\/p>\n

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The forward\u2019s grin went wide in celebration and the Seagulls were heading through, while City were going out. A\u00eft-Nouri, skipping down the left, tried to do something about this, but his ball over was aimless.<\/p>\n

At least there was pace in this foray, which those in blue sometimes lacked. But, also, Maresca\u2019s team had become sloppy \u2013 a long-range Rayan Cherki pass that ended in Steele\u2019s gloves was emblematic.<\/p>\n

Olivier Boscagli\u2019s corner that dipped viciously close to Rulli\u2019s goalline was far more dangerous, so just after the hour Maresca introduced a first big gun \u2013 Doku, for Allan \u2013 this coming after Rutter ran in and went close to a second, underlining Brighton\u2019s ascendancy.<\/p>\n

When Doku played A\u00eft-Nouri in through the left, it was a rare City attack and showed the value of having the Belgian now able to affect the game.<\/p>\n

At this point, though, the decision to allow his star quintet the night off was backfiring for Maresca. City lacked control and were toothless. Doku, again, cut through Brighton but there were no runners to prosper from his delivery infield.<\/p>\n

H\u00fcrzeler\u2019s men tried to squeeze time and snaffle the ball whenever City attempted to move them about, but then came a first passage in which City camped in Brighton territory. Suddenly, those in green were having to answer questions. Foden\u2019s burst that drew a free-kick from Rutter near the 18-yard line presaged one they could not answer. Cherki blasted at goal, Reis stuck out a boot, Steele was wrongfooted, and it was 2-2. Doku had lit up City, his presence terrorising Brighton\u2019s defence and turning the tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are in a brilliant moment, scoring goals, many goals every game and winning, so we knew it was a tough game in terms of defending in the right way,\u201d Maresca said. \u201cWe could have probably done something better defensively, but we started just three months ago [together]. The game was chaotic but we controlled it quite good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku\u2019s second-half substitute appearance transformed Manchester City into a high-octane proposition, the smart money was on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-660321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}