Geronimo Rulli may have made a case for his place in Manchester City’s goal, but manager Enzo Maresca insists Gianluigi Donnarumma remains his number one. Rulli saved the last two penalties in the shootout against Brighton in the Carabao Cup, sending the holders through to the quarter-finals.
Rulli returned to the club in the summer from Marseille for a modest £1.7m, signed as a back-up to the Italy captain. He pressed his claims with an impressive display, diving full stretch to his left to keep out the spot-kicks from Brighton’s Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk.
The 34-year-old was already essential before the shootout. The match finished 2-2 after normal time, and City would not have reached the shootout had Rulli not made a sensational fingertip save to deny Georginio Rutter in the second half.
Rulli will return to the bench for this weekend’s Premier League match against the same opponents, despite many questioning Donnarumma’s recent form.
When asked whether Rulli had put pressure on Donnarumma’s place, Maresca said: “No, absolutely not from my point of view.
“He is working well but Rulli knows exactly his role, there is no doubt about that. Saturday it will be Gigio plus 10.”
Rulli has a history of penalty heroics
Rulli is no stranger to being the hero in a shootout. In the 2021 Europa League final, he scored a penalty for Villarreal against Manchester United, then denied David de Gea to decide the marathon shootout and the destiny of the trophy.
If he had not already won over City supporters with that moment against their rivals, he will have strengthened that affection on Wednesday night. Rulli spent the 2016-17 season at City without making a first-team appearance. He returned to replace James Trafford, who moved to Leeds for £45m. This looks like a shrewd piece of business from City.
Before the match, Maresca said Rulli was “doing well” and “knows exactly his role” as understudy to Donnarumma, and he repeated that message after the game. Donnarumma, along with Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol, has been given three days off to “recover the energy”. Maresca will hope he returns to training rejuvenated this week.
Donnarumma was at fault for Aston Villa’s second goal last weekend, and Maresca acknowledged that he has been “making some mistakes”.
“Apart from penalties, overall he was good especially in the build-up,” Maresca said of Rulli. “It was not easy because they are a team that go man to man and are aggressive.
“In the first half, we tried some long solutions with Floyd [Samba] and then in the second half we tried on the floor with Phil [Foden]. He made one good save and was good.”
Big chance for City to go all the way again
Maresca made nine changes to the side that lost at Aston Villa on Saturday, and the gamble almost backfired. City twice fell behind, to goals from Malick Yalcouye and Rutter, before the hosts battled back to draw level through Mateo Kovavic and Vitor Reis.
The result extends Maresca’s impressive start as manager. His side have lost only to Villa and Paris St-Germain, along with Arsenal in the Community Shield. Arsenal and Chelsea have both been knocked out of the League Cup, so City will continue their bid to retain the trophy against Bradford in the quarter-finals.
Asked whether this was a big opportunity to go all the way again, Maresca said: “Absolutely.
“It’s a different competition but the ambition has to be the same: this is a new project, new players, a new manager who started three months ago and we need to do our business and that is winning games.”