GUARDIOLA GIVES MITRE BALL A GOOD KICKING — CARABAO CUP ACTION

Mitre ‘unacceptable’ insists City boss

PEP GUARDIOLA bizarrely blamed the match ball after Manchester City pipped Wolves on penalties to scrape into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

City’s reserve goalkeeper Claudio Bravo saved twice in the shootout to rescue the Premier League leaders following a goalless draw at the Etihad.

But Guardiola criticised the Mitre ball used in the competition, saying it was too light compared to the Nike version favoured by the Premier League.

‘The ball was unacceptable for a high-level competition,’ said Guardiola. ‘It is too light. It moves all over the place. It is not a good ball. It’s impossible to score with a ball like that, and I can say that because we won.

‘I’m not making excuses. All of my players said “what is that?”. I’m sorry, Carabao Cup, it is not a serious ball for a serious competition.

‘It’s marketing, money, OK. But it’s not acceptable. No weight, nothing. All the players complain.’

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo responded: ‘I can’t compare them. It is our ball in both competitions (Championship, Carabao Cup). The only difference is the colour.’

Guardiola paid tribute to Bravo who has been replaced by new £35million signing Ederson Moraes after a calamitous first season in England. The Chile international made three one-on-one saves before his shootout heroics.

‘Without him we would not be in the next round,’ added City’s boss. ‘It was not easy for him last season, but he’s a keeper at a high level. You can’t play for Barcelona and Chile without being at a high level. He deserved the performance.’

The Chilean, who was recalled in place of first-choice Ederson, was the star of the shootout that followed two goalless hours, diving low to his right to deny Alfred N’Diaye, then going the other way to turn away Conor Coady’s spot-kick.

That gave Guardiola’s side a 2-1 lead in the tiebreak-style shootout and, moments later, Sergio Aguero sealed the victory with a cheeky dink over Will Norris.

It was a heartbreaking end to the night for a Wolves side who had pressed City as hard as the best teams in the Premier League — and indeed Europe — during their barnstorming start to the season.

The Championship leaders were in no mood to roll over and wave their more illustrious opponents through to the quarter-finals.

Nor were they about to concede the landmark 178th goal of Aguero’s City career without a fight, or the 12th win in a row City needed to set a new club record.

Wolves could even have snatched victory inside the 90 minutes had young striker Bright Enobakhare and Helder Costa not been brilliantly denied by Bravo when one-onone with the keeper.

‘I am proud of the team and proud of the fans,’ added Wolves boss Nuno.

‘There were 6,200 singing and shouting for Wolves all night long.

‘The boys worked so hard and stuck to the plan. We had chances to win the game and came into it more in the second half.’