GIVEN Sven-Goran Eriksson's history in quarter- final ties since being associated with the English game, this result might not have come as a complete surprise

What was a shock to the system was the insipid way in which the Blues gave up their perfect home record and their Wembley dream.

Even Spurs being reduced to 10 men for more than an hour of the game, thanks to Didier Zokora's red card, couldn't inspire the home side to rise above the mundane and, in some cases, the mediocre. Nery Castillo must be a certainty when he's eligible.

A whole generation of City fans have been born and grown up since the Blues last tasted the gut-churning excitement and tension of a Cup semi-final, Now they will have to be patient a little longer.

It was 26 years ago that City last reached the last four of a major domestic competition. Maggie Thatcher was Prime Minister and six of last night's City team were not even born.

For all the talk of a top-six place being the ultimate aim of this hugely successful first campaign under Eriksson, Blues fans everywhere would have traded that for a finish in the top 10 and Richard Dunne climbing those 107 steps at the new Wembley to hold aloft the Carling decorated piece of silver and the passport to Europe.

What a shame it had to end like it did with barely a whimper.

For so long the butt of the top clubs' disdain, a vehicle to send a few kids into the trenches and over the top, the current incarnation of the League Cup has suddenly become a must-have trinket for the big boys.

Hence the last eight being dominated not just by the Premier League sides but those almost exclusively in the top 10 of the top flight.

Only United, who underestimated Coventry City, Portsmouth and Aston Villa missed out on the quarter-finals and Spurs were the sole representatives from outside the top 10 teams in England.

Not that they were ever likely to be a walkover now that new boss Juande Ramos has finally started to plug a defence that earlier in the season had all the sturdiness of a kitchen colander.

Tottenham, ironically the Blues' last opponents in a cup final, stomped north on the back of an impressive silencing of the chimes at Pompey and a rather luckier success over City at White Hart Lane when close inspection revealed that neither of their goals in a 2-1 success was legal.

This win, though, was deserved against a home side that never threatened to expose the 10 men.

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold and judging by some of the outfits worn by the superstars on view, the temperature was plenty low enough at ground level at Eastlands.

Warming

Mufflers, gloves (with or without short-sleeved shirts) were all on display though the most warming aspect of the evening for home fans was the return of their new talisman Elano who had been sidelined for three games that produced one of everything - a win, a loss and a draw.

Now they must hope he finds his best form again as City bid to bounce back and explore an alternative European avenue.

The Brazilian slotted into his place behind the lone striker, this time the exotically dressed Italian Rolando Bianchi, leaving Darius Vassell to peel off to the right flank and Gelson Fernandes to the bench after a promising run in the side.

Back too came Joe Hart the England Under-21 goalkeeper who, if given an extended chance, will surely soon be challenging the man at the other end, Paul Robinson, for a place in the full international side.

Tall, strong and, as City fans saw at Bristol City and Ports- mouth, capable of saves that induce gasps of awe from those watching and playing, Hart is surely the future for the Blues in terms of a goalkeeper.

He has a phlegmatic attitude that hides plenty of mental strength, as displayed when producing back-to-back clean sheets after being beaten six times at Chelsea, and has the confidence of those in front of him.

Eriksson has promised to make up his mind this week over who is his No 1 one for the rest of the season. Hart would be most observers' choice and that is not to say Andreas Isaksson is not a good keeper - he clearly is - just that Hart has the potential to be great.

The keeper was soon in action but not in the way he would have liked, exposed terribly by his defence as Jermaine Defoe tapped home Aaron Lennon's cross after the London side's other Jermaine - Jenas - split the hopelessly out of position Garrido and Micah Richards.

England man Defoe is striving to make an impression under the new regime but his night lasted only a quarter of an hour or so longer as he became the tactical sacrificial lamb after Didier Zokora became the latest in the rash of players to be red-carded for a two-footed tackle. This one was on Elano.

Steed Malbranque was lucky he didn't join his team-mate in the warmth of the dressing room after another spiteful lunge at Vedran Corluka that this time elicited only a yellow from referee Steve Bennett.

City, as they were entitled to do, came into the game a little more once the numbers became imbalanced, though Elano poked their best chance wide after a neat exchange between Garrido and Petrov.

The Blues attacks were though largely powder puff stuff with Robinson's form and nerve hardly tested until the 54th minute when he showed England class to divert Darius Vassell's header over the bar.

Dunne might have had a penalty when he seemed to be felled by Chimbonda and Kaboul cleared off line from Bianchi but the Blues fate was sealed in the dying moments when the brilliant Dimitar Berbatov and sub Jamie O'Hara combined to send in Malbranque who finished with aplomb.