Manchester City crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the quarter-finals after a surprise 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Wednesday evening.
With the Manchester derby on the horizon, the Citizens reserved Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Ederson, with the likes of Joao Cancelo, Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish getting recalls.
Southampton had a quick start as Duje Caleta-Car threatened early on with a pile-drive from a corner that required a reflex save from goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Read: Man Utd progress to League Cup semi-finals
Pep Guardiola's charges were not allowed to settle into their passing game, as Moussa Djenepo doubled Southampton's lead five minutes later with a wonderful looking shot from range that caught Ortega way off his line and dipped into the back of the net.
City lacked spark in the latter phase of the first stanza and from his big hitters on the bench, Guardiola brought on De Bruyne at half-time in place of Cole Palmer to try to rescue the game.
De Bruyne had an immediate impact for the Citizens, as two minutes from the interval, he threaded a pass through on goal for Julian Alvarez, who dragged his shot inches wide across goal.
Guardiola also eventually brought on Haaland in place of Grealish just before the hour-mark to reinforce their attack.
The presence of Haaland upfront helped City going forward but it took them up until the 78th minute to have their first shot on target through a deflected shot by Alvarez that was smothered by goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu from point-blank range.
The Citizens maintained their calmness in possession and looked to open up Southampton but they could not carve out clear chances in the last third.
Nathan Jones' troops were spirited in defence and were a threat on counter-attacks, as they frustrated City in the end to book their spot in the semi-finals.
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