Carabao Cup: Super Eagles Trio In Semi Final

The last Nigerian to win the League Cup, Kelechi Iheanacho, who won it with Manchester City in 2016.

Three Super Eagles players have advanced with their teams to the competition’s semifinal stage, continuing the good fortunes of Nigerian players in the League Cup.

Joe Aribo, Emmanuel Dennis, and Taiwo Awoniyi are the three lucky individuals. Aribo’s Southampton did the almost impossible on Wednesday night when they eliminated five-time champion Manchester City from the competition for the seventh time in seven years.

Though Aribo was not in action, his teammates showed they have what it takes to beat a Manchester City team that had the likes of Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, and the duo of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland coming in as second-half substitutes.

Sloppy City

Southampton shot into the lead in the 23rd minute when Lyanco snatched a pass from Sergio Gomez and delivered a low cross that France Under-21 international Sekou Mara swept home for his first goal for the club. Guardiola’s men had barely recovered from Mara’s goal when, five minutes later, Moussa Djenepo doubled Southampton’s lead.

The Mali international was allowed to advance unchecked before curling a glorious 30-yard lob over Stefan Ortega, who was caught too far off his line. In a desperate bid to salvage the game, Guardiola sent on Kevin De Bruyne at the interval and Erling Haaland after 56 minutes, but his lethargic team finished without a shot on target.

Southampton have never won the League Cup, losing the 1979 and 2017 finals, and they will face Newcastle in a two-legged semi-final later in January. Having suffered six consecutive defeats going into the game against City, Saints’ boss Nathan Jones will hope this surprise success can be the springboard to silverware and Premier League survival for his struggling side.

“We’ve gone through a lot recently, with people questioning a lot of things. That goes a little way to justifying why we’re here and what team we’re trying to create,” Jones said.

Forest on Wembley trail

Elsewhere, Emmanuel Dennis was in action as Nottingham Forest earned a last-four berth against Manchester United after beating Wolves 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.

Forest got it right this term after last weekend’s embarrassing FA Cup loss against second-tier Blackpool. They are now back on track to play at Wembley as they reached the League Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1992.

Forest took the lead through a close-range finish from former Wolves centre-back Willy Boly in the 18th minute. Raul Jimenez grabbed the Wolves’ equaliser in the 64th minute, but Dean Henderson was Forest’s shootout star as he saved penalties from Joe Hodge and Ruben Neves.

Awoniyi and Dennis have to navigate past Manchester United over two legs to make it to the League Cup final before thinking of winning it. The last Nigerian to win the League Cup is Kelechi Iheanacho, who won it in 2016 with Manchester City, a year after John Obi Mikel also won it with Chelsea.


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