Late on Saturday night (22nd), Wembley Stadium in London witnessed an intense EFL Cup quarter-final clash, in which Manchester City beat Championship side Saffield United by an overwhelming 3-0 margin to advance to the final and take a step forward to the glory of the "Triple Crown" of the Premier League, the EFL Cup and the UEFA Europa League. In this match, 32-year-old Manchester City veteran Marius became the absolute protagonist, he scored three goals and successfully stole the spotlight from teammate scorer Ainin Chalainte.
Although the opponent is not strong, coupled with the fact that City has just participated in the Europa League after the last match, and will face the top of the Premier League Arsenal in the early hours of Thursday (27th), the leader of the team, Corteona, has partially adjusted the starting lineup for this match, including the use of substitute goalkeeper Steffen Ordiga, and the absence of the main players, such as Stones, Ruben Dyas, Lodi Kasjandi, and Chivun Dibny.
Nevertheless, the "Blue Moon" won the game with ease. In the 15th minute, Aynincharoenet had a great shot from long range, but the referee stopped the game before the ball was even in the net, leaving him with nothing to show for his efforts. In the 41st minute, Bernardo Schwarz created a chance near the penalty spot, but Aynincharant failed to capitalize on it, and it was Malles who finished it off to break the deadlock for City.
In the 66th minute, Kiarisch's precise pass from the left led to an easy shot into the empty net, making him the first player to score a hat-trick in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup in nearly 65 years since the legendary Alex Dyson in 1958, and the oldest "hat-trick" player under Pep Guardiola since he took charge of the top team at the age of 32 years and 60 days. At the same time, at the age of 32 years and 60 days, he has become the oldest player to be capped since Pep Guardiola took charge of the top team.
After the match, the Algerian international said: "It feels great to score a hat-trick, I played pretty well today. The most important thing is that we broke the curse of the last three EFL Cup quarter-final exits, and reaching the final means a lot, but we have to focus on the next round of league matches against Arsenal, we have a strong squad and we have to keep going."
Manchester City are in perfect form in this year's EFL Cup, scoring 17 goals and conceding none in five matches, becoming the first team to reach the final of the EFL Cup with a clean sheet since Ewarton in the 1965/66 season, and they will fight with the winner of the match between Brighton and Manchester United for the title.
