Pep Guardiola has reacted to Manchester City’s shock EFL Cup quarter-final defeat to Southampton.
The reigning Premier League champions, who have won six EFL Cup titles since 2014, suffered a 2-0 loss at St Mary’s.
Man City are currently 18 places above bottom-placed Southampton but were knocked out by Nathan Jones’ side, who progressed thanks to goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo.
While Manchester City boasted more than 70% possession, they failed to have a single shot on target.
Guardiola said: ‘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.
‘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.’
Former England striker Chris Sutton, meanwhile, heaped praise on Southampton after they booked their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Southampton absolutely brilliant this evening! Nathan Jones needed a performance like this, especially against the big boys.
‘Southampton coped really well after going 2-0 up, Gavin Bazunu barely had to make a save.
‘Nathan Jones needs time, he took over an absolute mess. The negativity really took over after the defeat against Forest when they didn’t have a shot on target.
‘After the win at the weekend [over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup] there was still some scepticism. If they can play like they did today with that intensity then they will stay up and it is a big if. But it is fantastic for Nathan Jones tonight.
‘It wasn’t just that they beat Manchester City it was the manner in which they did it. They were brave, pressed Manchester City high and forced them into errors.
‘They get themselves in front, the performance in the second half after they went to three at the back was fantastic.’
More to follow…
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