Geronimo Rulli saved the last two penalties in a shootout against Brighton, sending holders Manchester City into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and raising questions about Gianluigi Donnarumma‘s place in the side.
Rulli returned to City this summer from Marseille for a modest £1.7m to serve as back-up to the Italy captain. On Wednesday night, the 34-year-old made a strong case for a bigger role. He dived full stretch to his left to stop the penalties from Brighton’s Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk, after the match finished 2-2 in normal time.
The game would not have reached a shootout had Rulli not made a sensational fingertip save to deny Georginio Rutter in the second half.
Despite his heroics, Rulli will return to the bench for Saturday’s Premier League meeting with the same opponent, even as many have questioned Donnarumma’s recent form.
Maresca backs his number one
When asked whether Rulli had put pressure on Donnarumma’s position, City manager Enzo Maresca was firm. “No, absolutely not from my point of view,” he said. “He is working well but Rulli knows exactly his role, there is no doubt about that. Saturday it will be Gigio plus 10.”
Maresca repeated that message after the game, saying Rulli “knows exactly his role” as understudy to Donnarumma. He also praised his performance. “Apart from penalties, overall he was good especially in the build-up,” Maresca said. “It was not easy because they are a team that go man to man and are aggressive.”
Donnarumma, who was at fault for Aston Villa’s second goal last weekend, has been given three days off along with Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol so he can “recover the energy.” Maresca acknowledged that the goalkeeper has been “making some mistakes,” and he will hope Donnarumma returns to training this week refreshed.
A rare chance to make history again
Maresca made nine changes to the side that lost at Aston Villa on Saturday, and the shake-up nearly backfired. City twice fell behind, to goals from Malick Yalcouye and Georginio Rutter, before Mateo Kovacic and Vitor Reis brought them level.
The result extends Maresca’s strong start as manager. City have lost only to Villa, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in the Community Shield. Arsenal and Chelsea have both been knocked out of the League Cup, which leaves City to defend their trophy against Bradford in the quarter-finals.
Asked whether this was a big opportunity to go all the way again, Maresca said: “Absolutely. It’s a different competition but the ambition has to be the same: this is a new project, new players, a new manager who started three months ago and we need to do our business and that is winning games.”