History repeated itself in the East Midlands as Manchester City sealed their passage into the Carabao Cup semi-finals via penalties and at the expense of Leicester for the second season running. Arijanet Muric, City’s 20-year-old Kosovan goalkeeper, was the hero, denying James Maddison and Caglar Soyuncu in a shootout that was not exactly a masterclass in the art of how to take a penalty.

Christian Fuchs blazed his kick over the bar, Raheem Sterling fluffed his lines when attempting a Panenka and, without wishing to take too much credit away from Muric, both the penalties he saved were desperately poor.

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Maddison hesitated during his run-up and then rolled the ball almost in slow motion towards the corner. Soyuncu also stuttered before striking the ball and it was hard to escape the feeling they telegraphed their intentions as a result.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was much more ruthless and emphatically dispatched his penalty, leaving Leicester nursing a familiar and frustrating sense of deja vu.

Although Claude Puel defended his players when quizzed not only about the quality of their penalties but also that three of the four were defenders, the bottom line is that this was another missed opportunity for Leicester.

Pep Guardiola, in contrast, could reflect on a satisfying outcome and also take encouragement from several individual displays. Kevin De Bryune marked his first start since the beginning of November with a fine goal, his first for City in eight months. Eric García, a 17-year-old Spaniard, played with great maturity at the heart of the defence on his full debut – “an incredible performance” Guardiola said – and then there was Muric’s contribution in goal. “Aro is so big, his reaction is so quick and he took the right decisions. He deserved the big applause.”

With Puel and Guardiola making seven and eight changes respectively to their starting lineups, it was perhaps not surprising that the game felt a little flat. De Bruyne’s inclusion was a boost for City after all his injury problems, however, and it was a lovely goal he scored after 14 minutes. After bamboozling Hamza Choudhury with some dexterous footwork, the Belgian whipped a right-foot 20-yard shot, with very little backlift, inside Danny Ward’s near post.

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“Great news,” said Guardiola, when asked about De Bruyne’s return. “He played at a high level.”

De Bruyne departed after 71 minutes and Leicester equalised moments later. Wilfred Ndidi’s crossfield pass exposed Zinchenko’s poor positioning and Marc Albrighton, who had not long come off the bench, cushioned the ball with a lovely first touch before arrowing a terrific shot into the far corner.

Puel celebrated wildly on the touchline but everything unravelled for the Leicester manager come the shootout. “We cannot have a debate about the penalties,” he said. “My players took responsibility.”