The Manchester City Football Club, who were on fire over the past year, winning the coveted Champions League title for the first time in history last season, have now crashed out of the 2023 League Cup following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of rivals Newcastle at St. James Park Stadium on Wednesday.
The City Club was touted as the tournament favorites for winning the League Cup this year following their successful run last year where they won the treble of the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup all in the same season. Their dreams of picking up an unprecedented quadruple win were ended by the hosts Newcastle at St. James Park.
While the majority of the match was pretty evenly matched, with both teams trying equally hard to score and win, it was not until the Newcastle boss introduced Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes at half-time that the hosts took control. In the end, it was Alexander Isak who slotted home the only goal of the match at the far post in the 53rd minute after a burst from Joelinton cut through the City defense line.
Thereon, Newcastle played some resolute defensive play to prevent Manchester City from getting the equalizer. The City Boys, despite several promising attempts, failed to level up with the rivals and eventually had to walk off the field with a defeat, marking the end of their promising League Cup campaign!
Elsewhere in the League Cup!
While Newcastle have narrowly made it to the playoffs, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have also booked their places in the top 16.
Chelsea (1) – Brighton (0)
Chelsea prevented the crisis at Stamford Bridge from deepening as Nicolas Jackson’s goal beat Brighton 1-0, and will now be up against Blackburn in the last 16.
Arsenal (1) – Brenford (0)
Arsenal were also 1-0 winners at Brentford as Aaron Ramsdale responded to being controversially dropped by Mikel Arteta. Reiss Nelson’s eighth-minute goal separated the sides despite a Brentford onslaught after the break.
Liverpool (3) – Leicester (1)
Liverpool displayed a brilliant fightback in their match against Championship leaders Leicester. They were trailing early in the game after Leicester scored the opening goal just three minutes into the game, but Liverpool managed to get back in and pull out an amazing fighting 3-1 win to advance to the top 16. Cody Gakpo scored the equalizer for Liver followed by Dominik Szoboszlai, and Diogo Jota to seal the win.
