Man City boss Pep Guardiola laments 'bad night' as 'best team won' in Carabao Cup quarter-final

Man City head coach Pep Guardiola has admitted the 'best team won' in the Carabao Cup quarter-final as his side lost 2-0 to Southampton.

Man City will face rivals Man Utd in a Manchester derby this weekend. Guardiola has hinted that he has 'ridiculous ideas' in mind for this game.

Before this huge game, the Premier League holders faced Southampton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Guardiola was brave with his team selection as Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were named as substitutes.

It backfired as City found themselves trailing 2-0 before the break thanks to goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo.

Haaland and De Bruyne were brought on in the second half, but neither player could make a difference as Man City failed to manage a single shot on target in the cup encounter.

City have already won the Carabao Cup eight times, but this defeat means they must now focus on the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Guardiola said after the game that his team was "not ready to play this game".

“The best team won. We didn't play well, we didn't play well in the beginning. There are a lot of games that you can start badly and overcome and we didn't” , Guardiola told BBC 5 Live.

"When you're not ready to play this game, you come in an inch late and don't score a goal. When you're ready, 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."

Saints boss Nathan Jones added after his side's win that he was "really proud of the club" as they have "went through a tough time".

"I'm really proud of the players, myself and the coaches. We've been through a lot lately, people questioning a lot of things. It kind of justifies why we're here and which team we're trying to make. create,” Jones said.

"I'm really proud of the club tonight and how we got through a tough time. It was the second cup win in a week and it shows we're building something.

"The performance levels have been there in the last four games, but we gave up silly goals and didn't give ourselves a chance.

"Tonight we were excellent. It's building. I played three Premier League games. I only had one day to prepare for Liverpool, I'm not David Blaine.

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"I understand people's frustrations, but we are building. Rome was not built in a day. We are on the way.

"We want to be hard to beat. That has to be our benchmark, the level we reach. We had a lot of good situations today. It's a step in the right direction."

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