Man City should have been sent off in the 2025/26 Carabao Cup

Former PGMOL Chief Executive Keith Hackett stated that Man City's center-back Abdukodir Khusanov should have received a red card after a reckless challenge on Brentford's Kevin Schade in the Carabao Cup fixture.

On the morning of December 18th, Man City faced Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. Coach Pep Guardiola rotated his starting lineup, giving Khusanov his eighth start of the season as he partnered Nathan Aké in central defense. In this match, Man City defeated Brentford with a 2-0 scoreline thanks to goals from Rayan Cherki and Savinho.

However, the home side might not have won or would have struggled significantly if they had to play with one less player early on, had Khusanov not escaped a red card after his foul on Schade in a one-on-one situation.

The controversial incident happened in the 15th minute when Brentford’s defender Kristoffer Ajer accurately passed behind Man City's defense to Schade making a run. Immediately after, the German forward was pulled down by Khusanov. Referee Sam Barrott only showed a yellow card to the 21-year-old, despite Schade being in a prime position to score.

Brentford players reacted strongly against the decision not to send off Khusanov for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. However, this decision could not be reviewed as VAR is only used from the Carabao Cup semi-finals onward.

Former referee Keith Hackett believes Khusanov should have been shown a red card instead of a yellow. His opinion is as follows: "When a foul occurs just outside the penalty area, the referee must assess the DOGSO (denial of obvious goal-scoring opportunity) criteria and determine if they are met. Factors to consider include the distance from the foul to the goal, the direction of play, the attacker’s control of the ball, and the positioning and number of defenders.

I believe the DOGSO criteria were satisfied in this incident. I was surprised the referee only gave a yellow card. This was a clear and serious error by the official. The player committing the foul should have been sent off."

Regarding Man City, coach Pep Guardiola received bad news as young talent Oscar Bobb had to leave the field early due to injury. The Spanish manager hopes Bobb’s issue is not serious.