Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola conceded that the better team won and scolded his side's performance after they exited the League Cup in a dismal 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Wednesday.
City have had something of a stranglehold on the English cup competition, winning it six times since 2014. But for the second season in a row, City have failed to reach the semi-finals.
Another anomaly is that it was a game in which City failed to test the opposition goalkeeper - only the third time that has happened under Guardiola's reign and the first since 2018 - despite the fact Southampton only had 28 per cent possession.
Guardiola said the damning statistic of no shots on target was "the reason why we were not good enough" and also pointed to City's failure to overcome a slow start - the Saints scored twice before the half-hour mark - as the reason they were sent packing.
"The better team won. We didn't play good, we didn't play well in the beginning. There are many games you can start not good and overcome and we didn't do it," Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"When you are not prepared to play this game you arrive one inch late and don't score a goal. When you are prepared you score the goal.
"Today was a bad night, the opponent was better so we have to congratulate them. To win games you have to deserve it and tonight we didn't deserve it."
Ratings: Southampton v Man City
-
SOUTHAMPTON PLAYER RATINGS: Gavin Bazunu – 7. Sent Djenepo on his way with a quality knock down the touchline to unleash the troublesome forward. Barely had a save to make and read the danger to bravely hurl himself at the feet of Haaland. AFP -
Lyanco – 9. Given an early telling off by referee Peter Banks for an unnecessary lunge on Grealish, but his aggression and hunger were exactly what Saints needed. Read the play brilliantly to gather Gomez’s loose pass and play in Mara who opened the scoring. Reuters -
Duje Caleta-Car – 8. Almost rewarded Saints’ positive start when his well-struck effort was turned behind by Ortega. A nearly moment for the hard-working defender who is still in pursuit of his first Southampton goal, but he produced a solid performance. Reuters -
Mohamed Salisu – 7. Survived a self-inflicted horror show when he failed to clear his lines on several occasions, which allowed Palmer to pounce and race away. Beyond that he had very little to worry about. Getty -
Kyle Waker-Peters – 8. A steady display on both flanks. Pinned Cancelo in his own half which really hindered City’s ability to create and that was a key factor in allowing the hosts to be so comfortable, while he was a constant attacking threat. AP -
Romeo Lavia – 7. Ensured Phillips and Gundogan were quiet in the middle of the park as City struggled to build meaningful attacks, and provided a valuable body after the break as Saints repelled cross after cross. Reuters -
Ibrahima Diallo – 7. Provided bags of energy as Saints were the better side in every department. Had slightly less influence after the break as the visitor’s peppered the Southampton box, and he went into the book for a late challenge on De Bruyne. AFP -
Moussa Djenepo – 8. Caused problems with his electric pace, but the opportunities just wouldn’t quite open up for him in the early stages. Doubled Southampton’s advantage with a stunning second when he gracefully lifted the ball over Ortega from 30-plus yards. AP -
James Warde-Prowse – 7. Pulled the strings in the middle and encapsulated Saints desire when he robbed Phillips on halfway. Almost compounded City’s misery when his deflected strike was turned home by Adams, but the latter was offside. Getty -
Adam Armstrong – 6. Hustled and bustled in a typical Armstrong display. What he lacks in ability he more than makes up for in endeavour, and at one point it took five fluorescent shirts to dispossess him. AFP -
Sekou Mara – 8. Spurned a huge opportunity when his wayward strike cleared the bar after the forward had initially managed to get between City’s central defenders, but he made no mistake moments later when he smashed a powerful effort beyond Ortega. Getty -
Romain Perraud (Djenepo 57’) – 6. Added some balance to the Southampton lineup with Walker-Peters able to switch to his preferred right-hand side. Reuters -
Che Adams (Mara 62’) – 6. Picked out Walker-Peters with an intelligent ball towards the back post, but it wouldn’t quite come down quickly enough, before Adams was inches away from connecting with a ball back across goal seconds later. Getty -
Mohamed Elyounoussi (Lavia 62’) – 6. Provided some important fresh legs in the middle and battled for everything. Reuters -
Mislav Orsic (Armstrong 83’) – 6. A brief debut for Saints’ £8m man, but no doubt a memorable one with the St Mary’s absolutely rocking. Getty -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Stefan Ortega – 6. A busy start for the goalkeeper who had to deny Caleta-Car before scooping a Ward-Prowse corner behind. He was largely let down by his defenders, but you have to question why he was so far off his line for the second goal. AP -
Joao Cancelo – 6. Pegged back for large spells and lacked his usual sharpness. Sprayed a lovely ball over to Grealish on the left flank in the first half but that was as good as it got. PA -
Kyle Walker – 5. Another outing at centre-back for the England defender who was guilty of a couple of sloppy passes, but he made a couple of vital defensive contributions to see off Armstrong and then Walker-Peters. Reuters -
Aymeric Laporte – 6. City’s best defender, just about. Looked every bit as frustrated as Pep Guardiola and seemed up for an argument with the officials every time the referee blew his whistle. Getty -
Sergi Gomez – 3. Offered little to nothing and paid the price for a lazy pass that both halted a promising City counter and led to the hosts opening the scoring. Unsurprisingly withdrawn at half-time. Getty -
Cole Palmer – 7. The 20-year-old showed blistering pace to latch onto a Salisu pass and charge into the box before finding Gundogan who miscued. Opted to pass the ball again late in the first half when he probably should have pulled the trigger. PA -
Kalvin Phillips – 4. Another one of City’s poor performers on the night, but in fairness to Phillips he’s yet to have a regular run of games this season. Even so, he was far too casual, including in the build-up to the opening goal. PA -
Ilkay Gundogan – 5. Dragged an early effort comfortably wide when he should really have hit the target and that summed up City’s night. An under par performance from the experienced midfielder. Reuters -
Phil Foden – 4. Completely missing in the first half and his second-half contribution wasn’t much better, other than a couple of decent crosses into the box, although the service from midfield was non-existent for much of the game. PA -
Julian Alvarez – 5. Flashed his first effort wide and couldn’t quite pick out Haaland with a couple of penetrating passes. Somehow failed to turn home Gundogan’s low cross on the slide. PA -
Jack Grealish – 5. Saw his first-half effort deflected behind and that was as close as City went in the opening 45. Withdrawn shortly after the break as Guardiola threw on the big guns. Reuters -
SUBS: Kevin De Bruyne (Palmer 45’) – 6. Created City’s best opening within seconds of his arrival. There’s no doubt Guardiola’s side carried a greater threat following his introduction, but even he was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply in a dangerous area. PA -
Nathan Ake (Gomez 45’) – 6. Added some much-needed composure on the left side of City’s defence and did brilliantly to force the advancing Walker-Peters to check back as the hosts looked for the kill. Getty -
Manuel Akanji (Walker 45’) – 6. Helped City to stop the rot, but he didn’t really contribute any more than the man he replaced. AP -
Erling Haaland (Grealish 56’) – 6. Injected some intensity to City’s play and chased after everything, but unfortunately so did Bazunu. Reuters -
Rodri (Phillips 63’) – 6. Clipped a beauty of a ball towards Haaland who couldn’t quite make a meaningful connection on the spin, much to the relief of Bazunu. Reuters
Guardiola had named a strong side with Joao Cancelo, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Kalvin Phillips among the starters, yet apart from an early shot dragged wide by midfielder Gundogan they made little impression on the game.
City must recover quickly with a derby match against Manchester United on Saturday their next assignment.
A resurgent United have won 15 of their 18 games since a 6-3 humbling by City in October, and are on an eight-match winning run in all competitions.
Second-placed City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by five points and Guardiola warned his players can't afford a repeat of Wednesday's performance if they want to overcome their crosstown rivals and keep pace with the Gunners.
"It's a different competition, of course, but if we perform in this way we don't have a chance," he said. "I know the momentum they have.
"For many years they're looking forward to being in this position. We know exactly what to do to play better and we're going to try to do it ... Today was not even close to what we are."
