Substitute goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli rescued holders Manchester City with two shootout saves to beat Brighton 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw kept their hopes of winning the Carabao Cup alive on Tuesday. Manager Enzo Maresca rested first-choice Gianluigi Donnarumma alongside four other players following a difficult period.
Brighton opened the scoring on the half hour when Malick Yalcouye fired in from close range after receiving a low cross from Georginio Rutter, who had been set up by Jack Hinshelwood. With VAR not in operation, the tight offside call was allowed to stand.
City equalised before the break when Mateo Kovacic curled a low 20-yard shot past Jason Steele after Phil Foden passed to him following a penalty appeal for a handball by Jaouen Hadjam against Floyd Samba.
Just 90 seconds after the restart, the visitors regained the lead as Rutter stylishly steered home a low cut-back from Hadjam on the left. Rutter later missed two chances to extend the lead, denied by a spectacular save from Rulli and hitting the side netting from a tight angle.
City drew level again when Rayan Cherki sent a low free-kick from the edge of the area that clipped Vitor Reis and completely wrong-footed Steele. Substitute Mats Wieffer hit the post for Brighton late on, while City's Enzo Fernandez narrowly missed a chance from a Foden free-kick in injury time.
In the resulting penalty shootout, Steele saved an effort from Kovacic, but Rulli denied both Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to secure a 4-3 win after Cherki converted his spot-kick.
