Brighton and Hove Albion suffer late, late heartbreak in the Carabao Cup after a crazy game against Manchester City. 

The club captain, of all people, had to be the one to miss the final spot kick. Lewis Dunk's penalty was weak, tame, and floated towards the bottom corner. It felt like time stood still, but sadly for the Seagulls, it was more Albion heartache in a penalty shootout. 

Ironically, before the game, most fans would have wanted to sacrifice this competition out of all of them when looking at Albion's schedule. The Europa Conference League, the FA Cup, and even the League would have taken priority before the game. It is a classic moment when it is right in front of you; it seems to hurt that little bit more. 

Albion played a good game. The first half was cagey, and perhaps a 1-1 scoreline heading into the break was somewhat fair. Albion took the lead from Malick Yalcouyé, with many question marks of offside being raised very quickly. With no VAR, Albion could count their lucky stars and find themselves in the lead. 

City levelled it up before the break with a goal from Mateo Kovacic, who actually missed a penalty later on! Kovacic's goal wasn't of the highest quality. Poor defending, but Albion could take it on the chin after the let-off from the offside call!

The second half started, and Albion looked like the better side. They took the lead with a great goal from Georginio Rutter. Arguably one of the star players on the night, Georginio was electric. He could have scored more, with his efforts denied by the City defence.

The moment when he rounded the goalkeeper will live long in Albion's memories, and not least the Yankuba Minteh effort!

The penalties were a shame, but both Yasin Ayari's and Dunk's were poor. If you want to beat Manchester City in a penalty shootout at the Etihad, you simply have to be better.

Albion will look back on missed opportunities tonight, but it is important to learn what happened and what could happen in the near future. 

Moving on from this, luckily, there should be a learning curve to take into the 'bigger' competitions. 

The Seagulls will be looking to win the Conference League and possibly go deep into the FA Cup and/or progress well in the Premier League. Sometimes, moments like this are exactly what is needed to blossom. 

Fabian Hürzeler will feel this one, as will every Albion fan. We move on to Saturday to face the same opponent again.