MANCHESTER City suffered Carling Cup humiliation at the hands of Brighton after losing on penalties at the Withdean Stadium.

The Blues had looked set to win the game in normal time thanks to Gelson Fernandes' deflected goal, but Glenn Murray equalised after 89 minutes to force extra time.

Joe Anyinsah then put the Seagulls ahead before Stephen Ireland levelled the scores to force penalties, and Michel Kuipers saved Michael Ball's spot-kick to send Brighton through.

After a 6-0 win over Portsmouth and seemingly cruising into the third round of the Carling Cup, the Blues suddenly imploded and Brighton added their names to the list of lower league sides to have humbled Manchester in this competition.

New owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak have a decent grasp of City history so perhaps they will not be too surprised!

The fact that the Premier League side led with less than two minutes of the game and let it slip would have been more of a shock.

When Mark Hughes analyses the performance he will surely come to the conclusion that it is not the likes of Messi and Kaka they need in January but some better defenders.

Without absent star names Robinho, Micah Richards, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Martin Petrov, the richest club in the world wasn't good enough to beat the team that plays on the pitch furthest away from the stands - it must have a separate postcode to the rest of the stadium!

'Shall we buy you a new stand' asked the visitng fans although their chant was a whisper by the time it reached the half way line and probably didn't seem funny at all after extra time.

Recent defeats and miserable nights to boot at Doncaster and Chesterfield were more the order of the day on the long drag home.

Boss Hughes said he would shake things up for the tie and give some of his regulars a rest before they resume their assault on the Premier League summit at Wigan on Sunday.

Return

So Brazil superstar Robinho was left back at base to welcome his family to Manchester and Elano, Didi Hamann and Ched Evans were stripped and ready but assigned to the cramped bench.

That left a welcome return to action for Michael Johnson who had missed the last three matches through injury but who had managed to at last to sign a new five-year contract and starts for this season's irregulars Ben Haim, Kasper Schmeichel, Gelson Fernandes and Danny Sturridge. Despite dominating for long periods they came up well short.

It was clear that those hitherto out of the limelight were not coated with the stardust that had attached itself to the side in winning five of the last six outings.

The early stages were cagey but the passing of the Blues', line-up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, was just the more crisp allowing Vincent Kompany to try his hand from 35-yards though his effort not only cleared the bar but also the athletics water jump pit that lurks behind one of the goals. Sturridge was accurate with a second effort but it was easily pouched by Michael Kuipers in the home goal.

Although there was plenty of technical ability on the pitch the Premier League side was missing was the extra yard of pace afforded by Robinho and Wright-Phillips.

That was not the case for Brighton speedster Steve Thomson who sped clear of the offside trap in the 22nd minute and beat Schmeichel but saw his shot rebound across the face of the goal from the inside of the near post.

That let-off prompted the previously pedestrian Blues to up their tempo slightly.

Kuipers became the busier of the two keepers dashing from his line to block from Jo after Johnson's astute through ball and then standing his ground to pouch a Sturridge drive from a tight angle. His third decent stop prevented Johnson from finishing a sweet move involving Pablo Zabaleta and Ireland and then he was relieved to see Jo snatch at a shot from fifteen yards that hit the aforementioned water jump.

Brighton, compact and busy, belied the 42 places between the sides by setting the tempo and cadence of the contest for long spells though City had the greater weight of chances.

The best chance of the game came in the 55th minute when Sturridge, switched to the right, crossed deep and Fernandes, arriving late on the far post somehow managed to head wide from five yards. He beat the ground in frustration and his manager was no less annoyed at the miss.

He was a lot happier in the 64th minute when Fernandes shot from just a bit further out hit Tommy Elphick on its way goal wards and nestled in the net.

Brighton at last looked cowed and the second half was largely one-way traffic with Kuipers preventing total relaxation in home ranks by twice saving well from sub Ched Evans and then keeping out a cheeky Fernandes back heel.

The Seagulls' first chance came in the 82nd minute when Murray went one on one with Schmeichel and lost after the long time redundant young Dane showed splendid concentration and bravery though that was undone two minutes from time when his defenders backed off Thomson long enough for him to find Murray who bundled home an unexpected leveller.

Then came the exchange of extra time goals and the penalty shoot-out in which Brighton held their nerve the better.

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