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Claudio Bravo the hero as Manchester City need penalties to overcome dogged Wolves

Manchester City 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0: City went through 4-1 winners in the shootout

Ian Whittell
The Etihad Stadium
Tuesday 24 October 2017 22:54 BST
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Bravo was the hero on the night
Bravo was the hero on the night

Pep Guardiola’s rampant Manchester City finally found some opposition as they needed penalties to beat Championship promotion hopefuls Wolves proved, with Claudio Bravo proving the hero.

City were seeking a 12th consecutive league and cup victory - a mark they had never before reached in their history - but that target played a definite second billing to Sergio Aguero’s efforts to claim the 178th goal of his Blues career.

Aguero’s desire to break the club record was matched by that of the home supporters and gave the League Cup tie an air of more importance than might otherwise been the case.

But there was, similarly, the notion that the prolific Argentinian may just have been trying a little too hard as he sought to cement his place even deeper in City folklore and history.

Claudio Bravo was the hero as City progressed in a shootout (Getty Images)

Eric Brook, the pre-World War Two winger regarded as one of the true greats of his era, required 494 goals to compile his 177 goals, a mark Aguero reached from the penalty spot against Burnley on Saturday in just his 263rd appearance for the Blues.

Aguero was not wasting any time on appearance number 264 to move a goal ahead of Brook on the scoring charts as the striker attempted three shots inside the opening quarter of an hour.

After five minutes his right-foot effort offered a routine save for Wolves back-up goalkeeper Will Norris before Aguero stabbed a shot wide after a dangerous cross from Raheem Sterling.

Then, after another City attack was only half cleared, Aguero’s 20-yard, first-time effort cleared the bar by some distance.

(Getty Images

They were incidents that set the tone for a frustrating evening for the Premier League leaders as they hosted the team at the head of the division below.

Indeed, it took two excellent saves from Bravo, much maligned during his disastrous debut season with the club, to keep City in the tie.

Just before the interval, a pass from Ryan Bennett and an error from Eliaquim Mangala allowed Bright Enobakhare to bear down on goal and it took a brave and swift dive at his feet to protect the home goal.

And after 64 minutes, it was a similar story as winger Helder Costa was played clear and reached the six-yard line before trying to lift the ball over Bravo, who again saved well.

(AFP/Getty Images

Aguero shot straight at Norris, placed an effort into the side-netting and, early in the second half, snatched at a ball just outside the visitors’ penalty area and placed his attempt wide.

Incredibly, normal time ended with Enobakhare played through for a third time in the game, this time by Connor Ronan, only for him to fail again and be denied by the diving Bravo.

The introduction of De Bruyne saw City continue to create chances with Sterling going close twice in the first half of the extra time and another substitute Leroy Sane curling a shot just wide.

But Aguero’s frustrations continued in the second half as his great run ended with a shot that keeper Norris comfortably held, the ninth effort of varying degrees that the City striker had come up with on the night without ever seriously looking like breaking the record he clearly so desperately wanted.

And so the game went to penalties and Wolves became the first team to stop City scoring this season but they couldn’t get the better of Bravo, who saved twice in the shootout.

That left Aguero, who couldn’t break the record, to slot home a consolatory winning penalty and send City into the third round.

(Getty Images

Guardiola paid tribute to Bravo after the victory but launched a tirade against the match ball that is used in the Carabao Cup - a ball manufactured by Mitre, the official Football League supplier rather than the Nike ball used in the Premier League.

He said: “That ball is unacceptable for a professional game. I say that now because we won. If we don’t win I can’t say that because it would be an excuse.

“It is too light, there is no weight to it. We have it for one or two days in training before but it makes no difference because if a ball is bad, it is bad for one year, two years.

“I don’t play football but all the players were saying ‘What is that?’ All the players were complaining. I’m sorry Carabao Cup but it is not a serious ball for a serious competition.”

The performance of Bravo was a far more positive aspect for the City manager. He said: “It was not easy for him last season, for all of us, but he is a goalkeeper of a high level.

“It is not possible to be at a high level, play at Barcelona, play the national team for Chile. He has a lot of experience and that is why he deserved that performance.

“Everybody was congratulating him and that’s why he deserved that performance. Without him we wouldn’t be in the next round.”

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