Pep Guardiola expressed his delight after Manchester City reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.The Premier League leaders defeated Leicester City on penalties after the contest finished 1-1 through 120 minutes of action at the King Power Stadium.Guardiola’s side came very close to winning in regulation but Jamie Vardy converted a penalty in the 97th minute, extending the match to extra-time and eventually penalties.And Guardiola was pleased with his young team’s response to the late setback."I am so happy. Especially when the situation is bad, it's how you react," he told Sky Sports."There were no complaints in extra time to say how unfair it was in the last minute. Instead of that, they tried again and tried again for the penalties as well."Sometimes in football, these kinds of things happen and the way we react it not easy, you are tired and there are a lot of young, young players who played added time.”
The quadruple dream remains very much alive, then. And Guardiola can choose upon the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling for the next round, if he chooses.Yet the 46-year-old admitted he isn’t thinking about playing his strongest side in the semi or final."I don't know [if I would play a full strength team] because I don't know what's going to happen," he added.
What Zinchenko did after the match
One player who fans will be interested to see more of is 21-year-old Oleksandr Zinchenko, who played as a makeshift left-back.
The Ukrainian international was prone to errors but overall looked composed while bringing the ball out of defence and got into some attacking positions.
But perhaps Zinchenko’s most noteworthy moment came after the match, when he joined Bernardo Silva for Sky Sports’ post-match interview.
It’s become commonplace for teammates to hand over the man of the match award and Zinchenko was asked to present it to Silva.
But before doing so, he decided to give a speech about how impressive Silva was.
Fans on Twitter found it hilarious. Check out the reaction below.
Who knows, Zinchenko may just have started something.