Emptyhad no laughing matter anymore as Man City knock Brighton out of Carabao Cup
For the second time in eight days, there were 12,000 empty seats at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City hosted weaker opposition in a midweek fixture.
It was AEK Athens last Tuesday and Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night, and even with their financial superiority (and doping), Man City’s second-string XI was not a level above their opponents in what transpired to be an extremely even game of football.
Fabian Hurzeler pretty much named a Europa Conference League XI, with Jason Steele coming in for Bart Verbruggen, and that type of continuity and chemistry would always stand Brighton in good stead for a game in which they needed plenty to go their way.
The opening goal was the slice of luck teams visiting the Etihad desperately need. Malick Yalcouye struck a close-range effort straight at Geronimo Rulli and watched it bounce across the line.
Brighton were playing well but conceded a very nice equaliser through Mateo Kovacic, whose cultured finish kissed the inside of the post and nestled beyond Steele’s reach.
As those who bothered to attend on Wednesday night drifted back to their seats after half-time, Georginio Rutter gave Brighton their second lead of the evening. But the tie would go to penalties after Rayan Cherki’s free-kick was flicked, or deflected depending on whether you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty type, into the net by Vitor Reis on a rare start for the young centre-back.
It was also a rare start for the experienced Kovacic, who was the first player to miss in the shootout. But in a carbon copy of the kick and save, Rulli then denied Yasin Ayari to take the contest to sudden death before actual sudden death.
Cherki stepped up to score and Brighton captain Lewis Dunk was denied by Rulli, who made himself the hero of the night and sent around 45,000 City fans home happy.
The attendance at the Etihad was just over 49,000, meaning there were around 12,000 empty seats at the ‘Emptyhad’, a nickname that has really come to the fore in recent weeks.
Amid the guilty charges and inflated revenue figures coming to light, there has been more focus than ever on the empty seats at the Etihad. Previously, it was something to laugh at innocently because City were considered a small, relatively irrelevant club and, because of that, everyone not supporting a direct title rival wanted them to win the league. Now, it feels more offensive than amusing. Instead of it being funny that a club boasting greater revenue than Real Madrid cannot fill its stadium, it simply feels wrong, and fans everywhere are praying for their downfall.
If players like Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland – who was not in Wednesday’s squad – cannot attract the crowds expected of eight-time Premier League champions, just imagine how the Etihad will look if they find themselves in the Championship with a far less glamorous team.
And when that time comes, City will slip into the level of irrelevance many believe they deserve after such abhorrent cheating. Cheating aside, they will also drop back towards the level a club of their size would ordinarily occupy.
Since the 2008 takeover and the astounding success that followed, City have naturally grown to enter the same bracket of club size as Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa, though not the same stratosphere as Manchester United and Liverpool. Despite what they want you to believe.
Everyone associated with the club has been kidding themselves for years.
It’s all just so tinpot. You’ll see a full stadium when Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain turn up in the Champions League, but not when it’s Brighton or AEK Athens. What a sad little life.
Even Rangers averaged around 45,000 supporters in League Two against clubs such as Queen’s Park. For context, they averaged 47,954 in the top flight in 2024/25 and Ibrox’s total capacity is 51,700.
The supporters who did not bother turning up on Wednesday night missed a cracker and watched their team advance to the quarter-finals of a tournament they are the current holders of.
It’s another chance to win some tainted silverware, and it might be their last opportunity for a long time, with the first trophy of the season up for grabs and a punishment they hope is not just around the corner.