Man City beat Leicester on penalties to reach semis

Holders Manchester City edged through to the Carabao Cup semi-finals by beating Leicester City 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium. A poor quality shootout saw the home side miss three penalties while a dinked effort went wrong for Raheem Sterling before Oleksandr Zinchenko stepped up to emphatically thump the decisive kick into the top corner to take his side through.

Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead in the first half through Kevin de Bruyne’s first goal of the season - a sweet, low drive into the bottom corner.

Leicester were poor in the first half but regrouped at halftime and levelled the contest through Marc Albrighton’s well-struck effort before crumbling in the shootout. League One side Burton shocked the Championship’s Middlesbrough to advance to the last four, while Arsenal face rivals Tottenham and Chelsea host Bournemouth in Wednesday’s remaining quarter-finals.

Relive Tuesday’s Carabao Cup action

Stand-in Muric the hero for City

Guardiola showed how seriously he is taking the competition by selecting a team blending experience and youth, with the likes of Sergio Aguero, De Bruyne and Kyle Walker starting alongside youngsters Phil Foden, Eric Garcia and Brahim Diaz.

But despite their unusual team the Premier League champions lost none of their trademark slick passing as they dominated large periods of the game and enjoyed 66% possession.

Argentina striker Aguero returned from injury and had an effort palmed out by Danny Ward and the Foxes goalkeeper also kept out Foden’s snapshot from the edge of the box.

Winger Riyad Mahrez almost scored against his old club, curling a superb drive inches wide of the post and rolling another effort past the same upright.

Leicester manager Claude Puel made changes himself - including leaving out Jamie Vardy - but Demarai Gray went close when he had a low shot tipped away by City’s stand-in goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.