SAINTS’ Carabao Cup journey came to an end as they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

A Nicolas Otamendi goal and a brace from Sergio Aguero was enough for City to ease their way into the quarter-final.

Defender Jack Stephens pulled one back for Saints in the 75th minute which proved to be the high-point of an improved second-half performance.

Ralph Hasenhuttl made six changes to the team that were humiliated by Leicester in the Premier League last Friday.

The Austrian was hoping to get a positive reaction from his squad after the Foxes hit them for nine at St Mary’s –  the club’s heaviest ever defeat.

Alex McCarthy, Stephens, Kevin Danso, Sofiane Boufal, Stuart Armstrong and Shane Long all came into the side.

Angus Gunn, Jannik Vestergaard, Maya Yoshida, Danny Ings and the suspended Ryan Bertrand were the ones to make way.

Manchester City chief Pep Guardiola opted to go with a strong side, which included attacking trio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez.

And it was Mahrez who made a blinding run to get in behind left-back for the evening Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg early on but was unable to test McCarthy from a tight angle.

City continued to stamp their authority in the opening exchanges and prompted the Saints shot-stopper to make a mistake when he failed to properly clear Angelino’s centre.

Angelino continued to be a nuisance cutting in from the left and forced McCarthy into a good save with a drilled shot towards the Saints net.

The Carabao Cup holders continued knocking at the door and were rewarded for their efforts just shy of 20 minutes.

Defender Otamendi got himself in between Oriol Romeu and Jan Bednarek to head home Bernardo Silva’s cross.

The Saints midfielder then picked up his obligatory yellow card after the half-hour mark as Hasenhuttl’s side struggled to get a foot on the ball.

City extended their lead in the 39th minute thanks to some wonderful team play.

Despite having every man behind the ball, Saints were split open by incisive passing from Mahrez and then Kyle Walker.

The defender’s low cross was turned home with ease by Aguero, leaving McCarthy helpless.

City went in search of a third but were denied when Saints’ goalkeeper did well to deny Silva’s testing effort from just outside the area.

The first half ended with Hasenhuttl’s side failing to register a single shot at goal or have a touch inside the home team’s penalty box.

It didn’t take long for McCarthy to be called into action again, as he was forced to rush off his line to prevent Silva adding a third.

A stroke of luck then led to Aguero bagging his second of the evening and taking the tie out of Saints’ reach in the 56th minute.

Mahrez’s initial shot took a big deflection off Bednarek before bouncing its way into the Argentinian’s path, with the 31-year-old making no mistakes from close range.

Phil Foden then got involved in the action and caused all sorts of panic in the Saints box with his drilled cross from the left.

Had it not been for a piece of excellent defending from Bednarek to deny Mahrez, City would have been four to the good.

Boufal sprung to life in the 65th minute and gave the visiting supporters something to get excited about when he came close to scoring with his side’s first shot of the afternoon.

The playmaker picked up the ball in Man City’s half before surging towards goal and letting fly with a curling effort which looked as though it was about to sneak in.

However, goalkeeper Claudio Bravo produced an excellent save to tip Boufal’s shot around the post.

Redmond, who replaced Long, made an immediate impact down the right-wing, almost linking up with fellow substitute Che Adams.

Saints then came close to etching themselves onto the scoreboard when Stephens’ header forced another good stop from Bravo.

Stephens didn’t have to wait long to be given another chance to head home, only this time he aimed it into the roof of the net.

James Ward-Prowse’s corner was laid on a plate for the former Swindon player to climb highest and cannon his header past Bravo.

Saints continued to press in search of a second but failed to cause Guardiola’s team any problems.

Hasenhuttl’s side will return to the Etihad this Saturday, where they will play them in the Premier League.