Maresca hails fringe players after City survive Brighton scare to reach Carabao Cup last eight

A rotated Manchester City side came from behind twice before beating Brighton on penalties to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, with manager Enzo Maresca singling out his fringe players for praise after the hard-fought victory.

Maresca rested five first-choice players from the squad entirely and left several others on the bench, yet those who started rallied to secure a home quarter-final tie against Bradford City. Arsenal’s exit at League Two side Fleetwood the previous night, combined with Liverpool eliminating Chelsea, has opened the draw considerably for the defending champions with just eight clubs remaining.

The City manager said there was no moment during the match when he regretted the extent of his rotation, and he was quick to highlight individual performances from those given the opportunity.

“Marc, the captain after two complicated games, I think he was very good. Rayan was good, Phil good. Mateo was very good. Vitor was very good, Rico and Nico,” Maresca said.

“Some of them are not playing many minutes and it is important that when we need them they are ready and tonight they were all ready. I was happy with the way we planned the game with the rotation and I was very happy with the ones that played at the pitch.”

Maresca also framed the Carabao Cup run within the broader ambitions of what he described as a new project at the club. “It’s a different competition but the ambition has to be the same: this is a new project, new players, new manager started three months ago and we need to do our business and that is winning games. At the moment we are doing that,” he said.

The result keeps City on course to defend the Carabao Cup, a trophy Pep Guardiola won five times during his decade at the club. With a favourable home draw against Bradford in the last eight, Maresca’s side will be considered strong favourites to progress further.