Liverpool, the Carabao Cup champions, were knocked out of this year’s competition after losing 3-2 to Manchester City in the last 16 at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
The Reds won the competition last year, beating Chelsea in the final, and were hoping to retain the trophy again. But that ambition ended with Thursday’s five-goal thriller loss.
Erling Haaland, a superstar missing from the recently concluded Qatar 2022 World Cup, was well-rested and showed that he is ready to pick up where he left off before the World Break.
When his opening goal came nine minutes into the game, the Norwegian set the tone for an exciting game.
Kevin De Bruyne crossed the ball into the Liverpool box and the City striker headed the ball past Joe Gomez to slot home. With that strike, Haaland scored a season-high 24 goals in 19 games.
Despite falling behind early on, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool staged a comeback and equalized in the 20th minute thanks to a calm finish from Fabio Carvalho.
The first half ended 1-1, and the second half began in a frenzy with African brothers Riyad Mahrez and Mohamed Salah scoring back-to-back goals for their respective teams.
While Mahrez made it 2-1 for City in the 47th minute, Salah immediately made it 2-2 less than a minute later.
After a couple of missed chances by both teams, Nathan Ake popped up with the fifth goal of an entertaining encounter as City went 3-2 up.
With over 30 minutes of action still on the cards, many would have thought there would be more goals from both sides, but it was not to be.
City held on for a 3-2 victory that sent them through to the quarter-finals. Pep Guardiola’s team are League Cup specialists, having won six of the last nine editions, and they will only extend their dominance by claiming their seventh title.
Other quarter-finals Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, City of LeicesterCharlton Athletic, Newcastle, Southampton and Wolves.
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