Man City 2-2 Brighton (4-3 pens): Rulli stars as City progress in Carabao Cup

Manchester City progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after beating Brighton 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

Malick Yalcouyé gave Brighton the lead in the first half before Mateo Kovačić equalised for City. Georginio Rutter restored the visitors' advantage shortly after the restart, but Vitor Reis' deflected effort took the tie to a penalty shootout.

Geronimo Rulli proved the hero on his first start for City, saving penalties from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to send Enzo Maresca's side through after Rayan Cherki converted the decisive spot-kick.

Brighton take the lead before Kovacic responds:

The game started fairly evenly, with City looking dangerous on the break through Rayan Cherki, whose early free-kick struck the wall. Brighton gradually grew into the contest, creating opportunities through Jack Hinshelwood, Pascal Gross and Rutter.

Their pressure eventually paid off on the half-hour mark when Hinshelwood laid the ball back to Rutter, whose cross-shot found Yalcouyé at the back post. The forward turned the ball into the net to give Brighton the lead, although there were questions over a possible offside.

City responded five minutes before half-time through some brilliant work from Floyd Samba, who created space for Phil Foden inside the box. Foden cut the ball back to Kovačić on the edge of the area, and the midfielder struck a powerful effort off the post and into the net to make it 1-1.

Rutter restores Brighton's advantage:

Brighton made a perfect start to the second half, retaking the lead just 90 seconds after the restart. Yalcouyé played the ball through to Jaouen Hadjam on the overlap, and his cut-back found Rutter, who fired past Rulli.

The goal gave Brighton confidence, and Rutter came close to extending their advantage, only for Rulli to produce an excellent save to keep City in the contest. Hinshelwood also threatened as the visitors looked dangerous going forward.

Maresca introduced Jérémy Doku to inject fresh energy into City's attack, and the winger made an immediate impact as the hosts began to regain control.

City eventually found their equaliser in the 72nd minute when Cherki stepped up for a free-kick on the edge of the box. His effort deflected off team-mate Reis and into the net, giving the defender his first goal for the club and making it 2-2.

Brighton continued to threaten on the counter-attack, while Mads Wieffer nearly snatched a late winner when his effort from a corner came back off the post. Neither side could find a decisive goal, sending the tie to penalties.

Rulli the hero in penalty shootout:

Both teams converted their first three penalties, with Foden, Enzo Fernández and Doku scoring for City, while Gross, Matthew O'Riley and Maxim De Cuyper found the net for Brighton.

Kovačić then saw his spot-kick saved by Jason Steele, giving Brighton the opportunity to take the advantage. However, Rulli denied Ayari to keep City level in the shootout.

Cherki calmly converted City's next penalty before Rulli produced another crucial save, this time denying Brighton captain Dunk to seal a 4-3 victory.

The result sends City into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, providing a boost after their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend.

What's next for Man City and Brighton?:

The two sides meet again at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 31 October, this time in the Premier League, with both managers expected to make further changes.

City currently sit top of the Premier League on 21 points, level with Arsenal, while Brighton occupy third place on 16 points. With both sides looking to respond to recent defeats, Saturday's meeting offers an important opportunity to get back to winning ways.