Manchester City booked their place in the quarterfinal of the EFL Cup after winning a thriller against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday. Star names who were not part of the FIFA World Cup including Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland were part of the contest and also scored in the entertaining contest City edged out Liverpool 3-2.
Ake on target for City
Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake headed in the winner as his side beat holders Liverpool 3-2 in a Carabao Cup thriller to reach the quarter-finals. Despite not playing competitively for a month during the World Cup break, City and Liverpool returned to action at a ferocious pace as Fabio Carvalho (20) cancelled out Erling Haaland's (10) opener in a frantic start.
Despite not playing competitively for a month during the World Cup break, City and Liverpool returned to action at a ferocious pace as Fabio Carvalho (20) cancelled out Erling Haaland's (10) opener in a frantic start.
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Southampton date in QF
But an unmarked Ake popped up at the back post to nod in the decisive goal (58) after Kevin De Bruyne's cross - his second assist of the night - to book City's place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and end the Reds' five-game unbeaten run in this fixture. City were drawn to face Southampton in the quarter-finals after Thursday's win and will travel to St Mary's on January 10 or 11.
Liverpool almost conceded without touching the ball after the kick-off but were given a reprieve as Haaland showed signs of rustiness when through on goal by miscuing a chip.
Haaland took advantage of Virgil van Dijk's absence as Joel Matip and Joe Gomez struggled to cope with the City striker while keeping a high line. Haaland nearly set up Cole Palmer five minutes after his missed chance, but the youngster struggled to control his cut-back in a promising area.
