Following Thursday night’s match between Manchester City and Liverpool, the quarter-final fixtures for this season’s English Football League (EFL), better known as the Carabao Cup, have been confirmed.
City defeated Carabao Cup holders Liverpool 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium last night to secure a spot in the competition’s last eight clubs.
Yesterday, the two Premier League clubs renewed their rivalry for another title challenge this season. Erling Haaland opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s side in the 10th minute at the Etihad Stadium, scoring his 24th goal of the season in all competitions.
Soon after, Fabio Cavalho, Jurgen Klopp’s star boy, equalized in the 20th minute. Riyad Mahrez put City ahead again in the 47th minute of the second half, but City was pegged back by another equalizer from Liverpool’s star striker, Mohamed Salah.
City, on the other hand, smiled as defender Nathan Ake headed in their winning goal in the 58th minute.
It is understood that Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp objected to Haaland’s goal, believing it was offside, and bemoaned the fact that VAR technology is not used in the League Cup until the semi-final stage.
“We have VAR, the referees are used to VAR. The technology is here, why shouldn’t we use it?,” the German coach lamented in a post-match interview.
He added:
We worked hard, we did good stuff. It was not good enough for tonight but it’s City at their home ground, it will always be an incredibly difficult game.
On the other side, City coach Pep Guardiola was delighted over the first win over Liverpool in six matches in all competitions.
He said:
We cannot say it was not a good game,” he said. “It’s not easy to keep the ball against Liverpool because they have a defensive structure that is the most difficult I ever faced in my career.
The EFL Quarter-Final Fixtures
- Manchester United vs Charlton
- Newcastle Vs Leicester City
- Southampton Vs Manchester City
- Nottingham Forest Vs Wolves