Manchester City Close in on Chelseas Unbeaten Carabao Cup Streak

Manchester City went one step closer to surpassing Chelsea's impressive streak of 18 Carabao Cup games without defeat after coasting past Southampton to reach the quarter-finals. 

Pep Guardiola's men took a two-goal lead into the half-time break, with Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Aguero giving the hosts the advantage, before the Argentine striker doubled his tally on the hour-mark. 

After Man City's victory, ​Opta released the statistic revealing that the Premier League champions are now unbeaten in 14 Carabao Cup matches (W10 D4) – the last side to go on a longer streak were Chelsea, who had an 18-game run between October 2004 and February 2008.

​Chelsea won the domestic trophy in the 2004/05 and 2006/07 seasons, beating ​Liverpool and ​Arsenal respectively in the finals, and were runners-up the following year. However, the Blues were knocked out of the competition in the third round during the 2005/06 campaign by Charlton, although their defeat came on penalties, allowing their unbeaten run in normal and extra-time to continue. Their streak was eventually ended by ​Tottenham in the 2007/08 final.

​Man City's unbeaten streak remains intact after their home victory over the Saints on Tuesday evening, and they have the opportunity to win a third consecutive Carabao Cup trophy, which would take their run to 17 games - one behind Chelsea's record. 

Guardiola's side were triumphant in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 editions of the competition, battering Arsenal 3-0 in the former and edging past Chelsea on penalties in the latter. The last Carabao Cup defeat for Man City came at the hands of city rivals ​Manchester United, who won 1-0 in the fourth round in 2016/17.

​Leicester City and ​Everton followed the current Carabao Cup holders into the quarter-final with victories over Burton Albion and ​Watford on Tuesday night, whilst only two of Liverpool, ​Arsenal, United and Chelsea can join them in Thursday morning's draw.