Manchester City 0 Wolves 0 (Man City win 4-1 on penalties): Premier League leaders survive EFL Cup scare after pre-match squirrel pitch invasion

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Tom Doyle25 October 2017

Manchester City were given an almighty scare by Wolves as Pep Guardiola's Premier League leaders needed a penalty shootout win to keep their EFL Cup hopes on track.

Tuesday night's cup clash started in strange fashion as City's groundstaff were forced to escort a rogue squirrel from the pitch, and Wolves gave the hosts a further shock by very nearly knocking them out of the competition.

Nuno Espirito Santo's Championship table-toppers impressed in a match that promised much but failed to deliver goals over 120 minutes.

Often-maligned Claudio Bravo saved City's blushes on several occasions during the match and proved the spot-kick hero, denying Alfred N'Diaye and Conor Coady as the hosts won the penalty shootout 4-1 after the game ended 0-0.

Displaced between the sticks by summer signing Ederson Moraes, this was just the Chilean's third appearance of the season and came as both sides made nine changes apiece.

Bravo produced several fine stops to deny Wolves when they ventured forwards, while Sergio Aguero tried and failed to become City's all-time top scorer.

The Argentina international did manage to find the net and secure progress with a cheeky Panenka at the end of a shootout, but it was the saves of N'Diaye and Coady's efforts that were key.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.