Aston Villa knock Manchester City out of the League Cup

Manchester City suffered a shock Capital One Cup (also known as League Cup) third round extra time defeat by Aston Villa. Mario Balotelli put the home side in front before Gareth Barry turned an Andreas Weimann cross into his own net for Villa's equaliser. Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick put the home side back in the lead but Gabriel Agbonlahor levelled again for Aston Villa. The game went into extra-time and Charles N'Zogbia fired home after a parried shot by Agbonlahor, who then sealed the win with his second goal of the evening. The defeat surely is a concern for manager Roberto Mancini, especially after losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League last week and being held to a home draw by Arsenal on Sunday. Moreover, Manchester City have already conceded 13 goals in seven games this season, far from the almost impenetrable defence that won them the Premier League title last season. Things are looking brighter for Aston Villa now as the win follows a heavy 4-1 league defeat by Southampton on Saturday. City made 10 changes to their team compared to the league match against Arsenal and that seemed to unsettle the squad. Aston Villa enjoyed a good start to the game but squandered a pair of chances before being punished by Mario Balotelli. Then Manchester City had a good spell at the beginning of the second half but Aston Villa grabbed a lucky equaliser as a cross deflected off Gareth Barry and rolled into the back of the net. Manchester City regained the lead thanks to a sensational free-kick shot from Kolarov and Carlos Tevez could have doubled the advantage soon after but his shot rattled the crossbar. Aston Villa fought back though and striker Agbonlahor forced extra time with a good finish. The extra 30 minutes saw Villa dominating the match against a rather unconvincing City and the visiting side were rewarded when N'Zogbia fired home on the rebound after goalkeeper Pantilimon parried Agbonlahor's shot. Gabriel Agbonlahor then found the fourth goal with a deflected shot. Bet365 have Aston Villa at 20/1 to win the League Cup this season while Chelsea are the favourites, priced at 9/2.