Five Things Learned: Manchester City 2-2 (4-3 pens) Brighton & Hove Albion (Carabao Cup Fourth Round)

Five Things Learned: Manchester City 2-2 (4-3 pens) Brighton & Hove Albion (Carabao Cup Fourth Round) Man City's penalty shoot-out hero: Geronimo Rulli! Manchester City took down Fabian Hurzeler's high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties to advance into the quarter-final stage of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup. Enzo Maresca's side arrived at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday looking to carry on the defence of silverware they won in March, having comfortably dispatched of Norwich City last time out in the competition, and finding things much harder against Brighton. The Seagulls took the lead on the half-hour mark as Georginio Rutter found Malick Yalcouye to blast past Geronimo Rulli from close range despite suggestions of offside. Amid continued Brighton & Hove Albion pressure, City got themselves level with a superb curving long-distance strike from Mateo Kovacic. After going in level at the half-time interval, Enzo Maresca's men soon found themselves behind again as Georginio Rutter slotted the ball into the corner within 90 seconds of the restart. Manchester City survived the storm and, thanks to some inspired play from Jeremy Doku, found themselves putting pressure back on the visitors. This saw the Citizens win a free-kick on the edge of the box, dispatched fortunately by Rayan Cherki via Vitor Reis' heel. Despite chances at both ends, the two sides could not be separated in the remainder of the 90 minutes and the match went straight to a penalty shootout following the full-time whistle. Phil Foden, Enzo Fernandez, and Jeremy Doku all scored, but Mateo Kovacic saw his attempt saved by Brighton's Jason Steele. Thankfully, Geronimo Rulli saved Yasin Ayari's effort, and Rayan Cherki hammered in his spot-kick, leaving the Argentine keeper to save Lewis Dunk's shot to win the tie. Here are five things we learned from Manchester City's shootout victory over Brighton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup! 1. Geronimo Rulli to the rescue! In a week when Manchester City's first-choice goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has faced mounting criticism, Geronimo Rulli picked the perfect moment to announce himself to the sky blue faithful. After a rather uneventful debut against Norwich City in the previous round of the Carabao Cup, the Argentine international was back in the starting line-up for the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion. His fellow goalkeeper Donnarumma conceded from both shots on target against Aston Villa over the weekend, but Rulli put in a better showing on Wednesday night. As the Brighton pressure mounted, he gave a decent account of himself in the 90 minutes before turning into the hero during the penalty shootout. Producing saves to stop both Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk, the Argentine won both the match and the hearts of Manchester City fans in just his second game for the club. 2. Inviting too much pressure The major problem with Manchester City's display in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night was the level of pressure invited from the visiting Brighton & Hove Albion side. There were large spells of the clash where the Seagulls had complete control, throwing punch after punch at the sky blue backline. I would dare say that this was to an even worse extent than the Paris Saint-Germain or Aston Villa defeats in which City had large chunks of the game on the attack. Enzo Maresca's side struggled to get going for most of the game and that will be the real worry and takeaway from the fixture, despite the dramatic win. Even with a defence as star-studded as City's, if you invite pressure all game long, you will inevitably welcome in goals too which was exactly the case this time out. Keeping possession and relentlessly attacking have been two stalwart features of the club over the past decade, but it was uncharacteristically missing at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Manchester City cannot afford to let this happen again too often, especially in the Premier League title race as there won't always be a penalty shootout to help save them. As mentioned, Manchester City found themselves on the ropes for much of the game, with Brighton twice leading on Wednesday night. Enzo Maresca's side struggled to create throughout the game and were defending for most of the proceedings. This changed, though, with the introduction of Jeremy Doku on the hour mark, who came soaring off the bench to cause a headache for the Brighton backline. As is often the case with them tricky Belgian winger, he weaved one way and another, often leaving the visitors spinning in his tracks. Jeremy Doku was unlucky not to score or assist, given how many great runs he went on and the level of crosses he put into the box. Manchester City always look a different animal with him on the pitch, and this game was one of the most clear reminders of that, capped off with a perfect penalty in the shootout. 4. Brighton's warning shot Football has a funny way of throwing up fixtures together meaning teams often face each other just days apart in different competitions. This has not only happened this week with Brighton being Manchester City's opponents at the weekend, but it is the exact same fixture with both games at the Etihad Stadium. Now, although both sides were changed from their respective Premier League games, and therefore different to those we will likely see on Saturday, the visitors still fired a warning shot of what to expect. The Seagulls have been high flying this season and it's not hard to see why when you see them in full flow as they were on Wednesday night. Manchester City have been given an early preview ahead of their encounter in the league, and it was one that the team found difficult to deal with and were, to an extent, lucky to get through. If their title charge isn't to get derailed following the Aston Villa loss last weekend, Enzo Maresca's side need to deal with Brighton far better than they did in the cup. 5. Shoot-out success Manchester City have had some woes from the penalty spot in recent times with that  shootout loss to Real Madrid back in 2024 still firmly in the mind of most supporters. With the exception of Mateo Kovacic's weak effort, who coincidentally also came up short against Los Blancos, the Citizens scored some flawless spot-kicks. Phil Foden, Enzo Fernandez, who was brought on specifically to take a penalty, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all fired home confidently. It was certainly refreshing to see so much confidence pouring out from the Manchester City quartet on the night, and of course, a couple of excellent saves from Geronimo Rulli too. Wednesday night's victory may only be in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, but it is comforting to know Enzo Maresca's side have that up their sleeve. When it comes to the season's business end, and Manchester City find themselves in the latter stages of cup competitions, whether domestically or in Europe, a confident shootout team is a great asset to have.