Brighton are back at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and, if this rip-roaring game between the supporting casts was anything to go by, then the main event could be quite the watch.

Every competition Manchester City are involved in comes laden with the knowledge that it could soon count for very little should they lose their appeal against a guilty verdict of near industrial-scale cheating and the club is hit with an unprecedented catalogue of sanctions.

Indeed, for the organisers of the Carabao Cup, the cleanest solution here may have been for the holders to go out.

But City live to fight another day after overcoming Brighton 4-3 on penalties having twice been forced to come from behind against Fabian Hurzeler’s side to take the game to a shoot-out.

After Mateo Kovacic missed his and City’s fourth spot-kick, Yasin Ayari had the chance to put Brighton within touching distance of the quarter-finals, but he also missed.

Rayan Cherki then converted for City before Lewis Dunk’s attempt was saved by Gerónimo Rulli in a dramatic finale to a game that, for all City’s excess baggage, fizzed along at quite the pace.

This was part one of a double bill and there are no prizes for guessing where the priorities lie. City made nine changes and Brighton seven with a host of key players rested before the teams renew rivalries back here on Saturday in the Premier League.

City manager Enzo Maresca had even given Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Gianluigi Donnarumma a few days holiday after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa to recuperate.

Like City, Brighton were also coming off the back of a rare league defeat after starting the season with a bang, with Liverpool the first side since Leeds at the start of last month to shut out Fabian Hürzeler’s free-scoring attack in the league.

The personnel are all likely to be different a few days from now, but even accounting for the 16 changes across the two teams this was still an entertaining game full of quality.

It says much for what Brighton have built that their second string could more than compete with City’s stand-ins and even with a pile of regulars missing there was no mistaking the hallmarks of their football under the upwardly mobile Hürzeler.

That much was evident for the second goal just 77 seconds after the restart: a slick, quick move that culminated in the enterprising left-back Jaouen Hadjam pulling the ball back from the left by-line for Georginio Rutter, who had helped orchestrate the attack, spearing a laser-like first-time finish low into the far corner.

City had equalised through a curling shot from Mateo Kovacic 10 minutes after Malick Yalcouye had put Brighton in front on the half-hour mark, but the visiting team deserved to be back in front and clearly had little intention of sitting back and defending what they had.

In fact, they could and probably should have extended their lead in that dominant 15 minutes after scoring their second and which led to Maresca introducing Jeremy Doku in an effort to tip the scales back in City’s favour.

Hadjam was a dangerous and marauding presence from left back and Diego Gomez was quite superb in Brighton’s midfield. At one stage, he threaded a lovely through ball to Rutter, who rounded the goalkeeper but should have squared for the lurking Jack Hinshelwood. Still, Brighton’s No 10 was a real handful and before then had forced a fine fingertip save out of Rulli, the City goalkeeper pushing his shot on to the crossbar and over after excellent work in the build-up by Hadjam.

Of course, no one can be sure what any game involving City this season means exactly. With English football still waiting to discover what sanctions the club may face after being found guilty by an independent Premier League commission of cheating on an unprecedented scale, there is an element of every competition they enter being tainted.

Not that the fans inside the Etihad here seemed to be giving too much thought to that when Rayan Cherki’s free-kick deflected in off the foot of Vitor Reis to tee up a tense final 20 minutes.

The first half had flickered with bright moments. Several City players had appealed for offside against Yalcouye when, with the help of Rulli’s chest, he turned in Rutter’s cross, but Ayyoub Bouaddi appeared to be playing him just onside. City’s response was pretty quick when Phil Foden rolled the ball to Kovacic who, from the D, bent in a shot off the post.

But the game truly exploded into life in a second half when both sides went at it, Brighton initially on top before City forced their way back into the reckoning.

Doku’s arrival still gave City a fresh impetus in attack – and Brighton more to worry about at the back. He was such a nuisance his shirt was ripped as Brighton grabbed at trying to keep a lid on him. Although the reality was both defences had their hands full.