West Ham have knocked Manchester United out of the Carling Cup after a 4-0 thrashing.

Sir Alex Ferguson made 10 changes to the side who beat Blackburn 7-1 at the weekend. Anderson was the only player not to make way with Tomasz Kuszczak, John O’Shea, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Fabio da Silva, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Tiago Bebe, Javier Hernandez and Gabriel Obertan all coming into the side.

The Hammers thought they took the lead with 16 minutes on the clock, a strike by Victor Obinna took a deflection off Johnathan Spector and flew past Kuszczak. Mark Clattenberg took a few minutes to speak with his assistant, resulting in the goal being disallowed. Replays showed that Spector was just offside when the ball hit him.

Minutes later, West Ham did take the lead. Luis Boa Morte burst forward, his cross into the area found Carlton Cole, he laid the ball off to Obinna and his ball in was headed past Kuszczak by Spector.

Spector had his second eight minutes before half time after some more terrible defending by United. Spector’s shot flew into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Manchester United made an immediate substitution after the break with Federico Macheda coming on for Bebe. Hernandez had been playing as a lone striker but bringing Macheda on and changing the formation made a difference.

Rob Green nearly let United straight back into the game, his clearance hit Macheda and nearly fell to Hernandez but Green managed to clear away the danger with a slide tackle.

The next goal was always going to be important, unfortunately it was the home side who got it. A quickly taken free-kick resulted in Carlton Cole heading the ball past Kuszczak, to put the game to bed.

More terrible defending from Man United ended with a fourth goal for West Ham. Cole had his second of the game after Obinna easily went past Rafael, passed to Cole and he shot past Kuszczak.

It was an awful performance from the whole team, the one exception maybe being Anderson. West Ham deserved the win, United were outplayed and didn’t deserve to go through to the next round.

Tonight Manchester United take on West Ham at Upton Park in the Carling Cup Quarter-Finals. A win tonight would keep United on course to win the Carling Cup for a third successive year. The last time United lost in this competition was back in September 2007 in a shock defeat to Coventry.

Man United go into the game with their unbeaten record in all competitions still intact after hammering Blackburn 7-1 at the weekend. West Ham go into the game off the back of a 3-1 win over Wigan, which was their first win in six matches.

Hammers boss Avram Grant will be without the injured Jack Collison, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Mark Noble, Manuel da Costa, Anthony Edgar and Peter Kurucz. He will also be missing Scott Parker, who has been suffering from a virus and defender Lars Jacobsen is cup-tied.

Sir Alex Ferguson will make wholesale changes to the side who beat Blackburn with players such as Chris Smalling, Fabio da Silva, Federico Macheda and Javier Hernandez expected to start.

The two clubs have already played each other in the Premier League this season. The Hammers travelled to Old Trafford and were on the end of a 3-0 defeat after goals from Wayne Rooney, Luis Nani and Dimitar Berbatov.

Man United has the better head-to-head record. They have played 120 games against each other in all competitions, West Ham have won 41, United have won 55 and there have been 24 draws.

Referee Mark Clattenburg has been assigned this game. He has officiated two games involving Man United this season, the 3-0 win over West Ham in August and more recently, the 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. Clattenburg has also refereed two games involving West Ham- the loss to United and a 1-1 draw with Wolves.

So far this season, Clattenburg has refereed 16 games in all competitions, showing 47 yellow cards and two reds.

Substitute Javier Hernandez scored a very late winner against Wolves to take Manchester United through to the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson made 11 changes to the side with Ben Amos starting in goal, and Bebe made his first start for the club. Wes Brown, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Fabio Da Silva, Gabriel Obertan, Michael Carrick, Darron Gibson, Ji-Sung Park and Federico Macheda all came into the side.

Youngsters Ravel Morrison, Magnus Eikrem and Robbie Brady were named on the bench along with Tomasz Kuszczak, Gary Neville, Hernandez and Rafael Da Silva.

A very forgettable first half was overshadowed by a much brighter second half, which saw five goals scored. The first of the five came in the 56th minute after Bebe's strike took a deflections off Wolves defender George Elokobi and over keeper Wayne Hennessey to give United the lead. The ball was cleared by Kevin Foley but the ball did go over the line and the goal was correctly awarded.

United's celebrations were short lived only four minutes later after the away side equalised. From a corner Elokobi headed the ball in past Amos, who looked like he had been fouled.

It took Man United only nine minutes after the Wolves equaliser to regain the lead through Park, his 15-yard left-footed strike flew past Hennessey. Wolves, to their credit, continued to look for an equaliser and that is what they got with 14 minutes of the game left to play. Foley was played in by Steven Fletcher, his strike went through the legs of Evans and past Amos.

Sir Alex had already brought on Neville, who replaced Fabio but it was his next substitution who would win the game. Hernandez replaced goalscorer Bebe. With 90 minutes on the clock it looked like the game could go to extra-time until Hernandez came to United's rescue. Gibson found the Mexican who went past two Wolves defenders and lifted the ball past Hennessey, who did manage to get a hand on the ball.

With United 3-2 up and four minutes of injury time added on there was still time for referee Lee Mason to be replaced by the fourth official after picking up a muscle strain. Morrison did come off the bench, replacing Park but unfortunately for him there was only around 30 seconds of the game remaining.

Other results in the Carling Cup tonight saw Birmingham beat Brentford 4-3 on penalties (it had finished 1-1 after extra-time), Ipswich beat Northampton 3-1, there was an away win for West Brom, who comfortable beat Leicester 4-1. Wigan also beat Swansea 2-0. Tomorrow evening Aston Villa take on Burnley, Newcastle play Arsenal and West Ham will play Stoke.

This evening current holders of the Carling Cup, Manchester United will take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fourth round of the competition.

United faced Wolves last year in the third round of the Carling Cup, with the tie being decided by a Danny Welbeck second half goal.

Mick McCarthy returns to Old Trafford for the first time since last Wolves lost 2-0 last December. After fielding a weakened side against Man United during that game, Wolves were fined £250,000.

Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to field some of the younger players, with Federico Macheda, Darron Gibson, Bebe and Chris Smalling all expected to play a part. Michael Owen has reportedly recovered from a hamstring injury, which could mean that he may start up front.

Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Ryan Giggs and Jonny Evans will all be unavailable for the clash.

Wolves will be without Ronald Zubar, Michael Knightly and Jody Cradock, who are all injured. They will also be without the suspended Karl Henry.

After an early scare, Manchester United came from 1-0 down to beat Scunthorpe United 5-2 at Glanford Park. Sir Alex Ferguson was absent after flying out to Spain to watch Champions League opponents Valencia play Atletico Madrid.

United made 11 changes to the team who beat Liverpool- Tomasz Kuszczak, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, Rafael Da Silva, Ji-Sung Park, Anderson, Darron Gibson, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, Michael Owen and Federico Macheda all came in.

Scunthorpe got off to the better start with five efforts in the first 15 minutes and deservedly took the lead in the 19th minute. Josh Wright hit a brilliant 25-yard strike, which flew past Kuszczak and into the top corner.

The dream start only lasted for four minutes; a long ball from from Smalling was lobbed over the keeper by Gibson. The equaliser for Man United didn’t phase the home side, who continued to attack; forcing some less than convincing saves from Kuszczak.

A great finish by Smalling from a cross from Park gave Man United the lead in the 36th minute.

After the break, it took Owen only four minutes to score his first goal of the night. Owen was put through one goal, one-on-one with the keeper with a great finish; he put the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.

The game was definitely put to bed in the 54th minute. An Anderson corner wasn’t cleared properly by Scunthorpe, Parks low strike made it 4-1.Owen couldn’t miss his second goal, Parks shot was spilled by keeper Joe Murphy, Owen was there to tap it in to make it 5-1.

The game may have been over but there was still time for a bit more drama and a few moments of note. United’s new £7 million signing Bebe came on with 16 minutes remaining, minutes later he was followed by a male streaker.

Lifelong Man United fan Martyn Woolford pulled out back for the home side, he poked the ball past Kuszczak in a crowded penalty area. It finished Scunthorpe 2-5 Manchester United. Man United are now through to the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

It was an uncomfortable start for Man United, Scunthorpe played well, especially in the first half but the visitors were able to take hold of the game and win comfortably. There were a few nervous moments for Kuszczak in the United goal, following his comments earlier today that if he does not play more, then like Ben Foster, he may have to leave.

Other Carling Cup results were- Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea 3-4 Newcastle United, Wigan 2-1 Preston North End, Liverpool 2-2 Northampton Town (Northampton won 4-2 on penalties) and West Brom 2-1 Man City.

Tonight Manchester United start off their defence of the Carling Cup with a trip to Glanford Park to play Championship side Scunthorpe United. The two sides have never met each other in a competitive match.

The last time Man United were knocked out of the Carling Cup was back in 2007 when Coventry beat United 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson will ring the changes from the side who beat Liverpool 3-2 last Sunday. The manager has already confirmed that Bebe will make his debut and Michael Owen will start. Gary Neville, Darron Gibson, Anderson and Javier Hernandez are all likely to start.

Man United squad: Kuszczak, Amos, Neville, Rafael, Brown, Ferdinand, Smalling, De Laet, Dudgeon, Anderson, Park, Obertan, Gibson, W.Keane, C.Evans, Eikrem, Owen, Hernandez, Macheda and Bebe.

Scunthorpe caretaker manager Ian Baraclough has no new injury worries, Garry Thompson is definitely out and Jim McNulty is struggling with an ankle injury. Defender Rob Jones will face a fitness assessment ahead of the game.

Referee is Mike Dean, he hasn’t taken charge of a Man United match so far this season but last season he refereed four games involving United. The first was the 2-1 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford, 4-1 win against Portsmouth, 2-1 loss to Man City in the League Cup and the vital 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the Premier League.

This lunchtime the draw for the third round of the League Cup was made, Manchester United will play Scunthorpe United, during the week commencing September 20th.

United will start their campaign to regain the Cup with an away game to the Championship side. Scunthorpe are currently sat 17th in the Championship table ahead of their match against Crystal Palace later on today.

Carling Cup third round draw:
Brentford v Everton
Portsmouth v Leicester
Stoke v Fulham
Chelsea v Newcastle
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Tottenham v Arsenal
Millwall v Ipswich
Wolves v Notts County
Burnley v Bolton
Birmingham v MK Dons
Liverpool v Northampton
Scunthorpe v Man Utd
West Brom v Man City
Sunderland v West Ham
Peterborough v Swansea
Wigan v Preston

When Nemanja Vidic brought down Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty area yesterday in the fourth minute, many were expecting the United defender to be sent off. Referee Phil Dowd did award Villa a penalty but Vidic wasn’t shown a yellow or red card, this has led to a lot of criticism.

Vidic was booked later on in the game at Wembley, so if the referee had shown Vidic a yellow he would have been sent off later on in the game.

It will come as no surprise that Villa boss Martin O’Neill believes that Vidic should have been sent off and that the ref bottled it.

O'Neill said: "It was plain for all to see. It's an inexplicable decision. There was a goalscoring opportunity in the area.
"It was a mistake from an otherwise very fine referee.
"There's no other decision. It's the major point of the match.
"Anybody would be wondering how he could come to any other conclusion.
"It doesn't matter whether it's the first or 90th minute. It is straightforward - so straightforward it is incredible.
"It's hard to take. I thought we played splendidly, particularly in the first half.
"I'm disappointed for the team but they're resilient, they're strong, they're young and they will fight back." 

It will also not be a shock that Vidic himself said after the game that the referee was right not to show him a red card.

Vidic said: "It was a hard game but we deserved the win today.


"I can run better for the goal they scored. [Gabriel] Agbonlahor did well but like I said it’s a team game and I’m very proud.


"I got in front of him, not behind and did a tackle. If I had been behind, then yes.


"He was away from the goal. That is my opinion. We'll see better on the video."

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Vidic was very lucky not to receive a card.

Fergie said: “I’ve not seen it but he was lucky not to be booked anyway”
“There’s been three or four in the last week that’s been similar to that. The one we saw in Milan with Kalou brought down which to me looked like a penalty.
“You had one on Saturday which was a claim for an Arsenal player. It’s very difficult for the referee. Then Belletti bringing down Bellamy gets a red card.”

Finally, former referee Graham Poll has had his say on the issue, saying:

"The referee would have looked for an excuse not to send the player off, and that doesn't matter if it was an Aston Villa player or a Manchester United player.
"People will say that is rubbish, as there is nothing about a cup final in the rules but you try to use your common sense and understand the occasion.
"There was a technicality that allowed him to keep Vidic on and he used it.
"The player must be heading towards goal, it's a stupid technicality, but he [Agbonlahor] loses control of the ball and it goes behind him and at the moment he goes down he is heading six or seven yards wide of goal."

We all have our opinions on whether or not Vidic should have been sent off or not and they will differ depending on what team you support. When Phil Dowd pointed to the penalty spot, my immediate thought was that Vidic was going to be sent off, him not being shown any card did come as a surprise.

A sending off may or may not have affected the game, a few weeks ago we played Villa in the Premier League at Villa Park, not long into the match Luis Nani was sent off. Even though we were down to 10 men for a long time you wouldn’t have noticed that Villa had the extra man.

It would have been difficult for United to play with 10-men for 86 minutes and maybe the referee did use the ‘technicality’. For once I agree with Poll, I don’t believe that it was just because it was a Man United player, if it was the other way round, I believe he would have done the same thing. It is just unfortunate for Villa that it was so early on into the game.

I also believe that he should have been shown a yellow, not a red. 

If they had gone on to win the match would people really be complaining? Would there have been complaints if he was shown a yellow?

Today Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson 33rd major trophy after United beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley in the Carling Cup final. Ahead of the game, Villa had taken four points out of a possible six in the Premier League this season so we were expecting a fairly tight game.

The big team news for Man United was that Wayne Rooney began the match on the bench with Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen starting. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill had been using Brad Guzan in goal but he went with Brad Friedel in today for the final.

The Man United starting XI was- Tomasz Kuszczak, Rafael da Silva, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Ji-Sung Park, Michael Owen and Berbatov.

Villa had an early lead after Vidic brought down Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty area, James Milner stepped up and coolly stuck it past Kuszczak. One of the big talking points to come out of the game was that Vidic was not shown a yellow or red card. I was expecting him to be shown a card and with only four minutes gone, it could have impacted on the result of the game.

Villa had started off as the better team but United settled down and came back into the game. Villa only had the lead for 8 minutes, Berbatov took the ball off Richard Dunne, he challenged Berbatov in the penalty area but the ball fell to Owen who stuck it past Friedel.


Park came so close to putting United ahead when he received the ball from Berbatov but his strike hit the post. Just before halftime United had to make a forced substitution with Rooney coming on to replace Owen, who minutes earlier had pulled up with a hamstring injury.

Villa may have started off the first half the better side but United started off the second half with a wonderful opportunity to take the lead. Berbatov had the ball on the edge of the Villa penalty area. Berbatov back-heeled the ball to Carrick whose strike was pushed away for a Man United corner by Friedel.

United again had to make a forced substitution, with just over an hour gone, Rafael da Silva went down with what looked like cramp. Minutes later Gary Neville was brought on to replace the youngster.

The winning goal courtesy of Rooney came in the 73rd minute with yet again, another headed goal. Man of the match Valencia’s cross into the area was met by Rooney’s head to not only put United ahead for the first time in the game but to score the winning goal of the final.


United really should have had a third moment later with another Rooney header, unfortunately for him and United, it hit the post. Villa had to throw everything at United, which weren’t good for the nerves but I wouldn’t say that they carved out any really good chances.

United went on to win the game 2-1, overall I believe we did deserve it. The main negative talking point to come out of the game was referee Phil Dowd’s performance. He had a horror of a match and there were some really mad mistakes, which went against both sides.

United have won the first piece of silverware of the season, I’m now hoping that this can now spur the team on and we can win at least one more.

Tomorrow afternoon Man United have the opportunity to win the first ‘major’ trophy of the season, if we beat Aston Villa at Wembley. Villa have already taken four points out of a possible six this season against United.

Man United have never retained a cup competition before and tomorrow is a great opportunity to do that.
Man United and Aston Villa have played each other 173 times, out of those United have won 87 times, Villa 49 times and there have been 37 draws.

Aston Villa will have Stiliyan Petrov who has recovered from a virus. Emile Heskey and James Collins are also expected to start. Villa are without Marlon Harewood and Nigel Reo-Coker.

Man United’s in-form striker Wayne Rooney is expected to be rested by Sir Alex Ferguson, with possibly Michael Owen starting up front.

United will be without Luis Nani who is still suspended for one game. Rio Ferdinand is out with a back injury. Anderson, Ryan Giggs, John O’Shea and Owen Hargreaves are also out as well.

The referee for tomorrow is Phil Dowd, who has only refereed one game involving United this season, the 2-0 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford. Dowd has refereed three Aston Villa matches, the 0-0 draw at Sunderland, the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and the 3-0 loss to Arsenal.

So far this season, Phil Dowd has refereed 28 matches, showing 95 yellow cards and four red cards.

Predicted Man United starting XI- Tomasz Kuszczak, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Fabio da Silva, Antonio Valencia, Darron Gibson, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen.

Predicted fulltime result- Aston Villa 1-2 Man United (in 90 minutes).

The Carling Cup journey for both Man United and Aston Villa started on the 23rd January 2009. Here is how both teams got to this season's final of the League Cup.

The holders of the cup, Man United kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford. Man United played with 10-men for most of the match after Fabio da Silva was sent off in the 28th minute. Despite that a Danny Welbeck goal in the 66th minute was enough to take United through.

Aston Villa also played on the Wednesday and they began their Carling Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Cardiff at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor’s goal only three minutes into the game was enough to take Villa to the fourth round.


United were drawn Barnsley in the next round and like the previous round, United were down to 10-men. United took the lead only six minutes in when Welbeck headed in Anderson’s corner. The second goal was scored by Michael Owen 59 minutes in from 16 yards out. That was swiftly followed with Gary Neville being sent off, he initially won the ball but his follow through caught Adam Hammill. The game has been marred by crowd trouble, which ended in 10 fans being arrested.

Man United may have had a comfortable match but meanwhile Aston Villa needed penalties to go past Sunderland. The game was goalless after 180 minutes. During the normal 90 minutes there was penalty saved by the Villa keeper. Neither team could score in the 180 minutes, which took it to penalties.
Villa keeper Brad Guzan saved three spot-kicks to take Villa through to the final eight.

Next up were the quarter-finals, both teams had difficult Premier League opponents.


On the 1st December 2009 there was a repeat of last years Carling Cup final between Man United and Tottenham Hotspur, this time it was a quarter-final tie at Old Trafford. United went ahead 16 minutes, against the run of play but a wonderful strike by Darron Gibson gave United the lead. With seven minutes left of the first half, Gibson scored his second of the game, which was enough to take United though to the semi-finals. The game finished 2-0 to Man United, next up Manchester City.

Villa on the other hand had a bit more of an eventful quarter-final tie down on the south coast. Stiliyan Petrov’s own goal in the 10th minute gave Pompey a slender lead but that was cancelled out only two minutes later after Emile Heskey scored for the visitors. 27 minutes in James Milner gave Villa a 2-1 advantage. That was it for the first half but with 74 minutes on the clock it looked like Villa had definitely got through to the semi-finals after Stewart Downing scored Villa’s third. It wasn’t over just yet, Nwankwo Kanu pulled a goal back for Portsmouth to make it 3-2 to Villa in the 87th minute. Ashley Young put an end to any Pompey hopes after scoring the final goal of the game in the 89th minute.

The four teams left in the Carling Cup were Man United, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. As luck would have it United and City were drawn to play each other, United were going help keep City’s run of 34 years without a trophy going.

The first leg of the semi-final tie between the two Manchester clubs was played on 19th January after having being rescheduled because of the weather conditions.
City were very much outplayed on their own ground but somehow managed to win the game 2-1. Carlos Tevez stuck twice (once was a penalty, which shouldn’t have been awarded) after Ryan Giggs had given United the lead.

Blackburn and Villa played their first leg at Ewood Park on the 14th January, this one had also been rescheduled thanks to the snow. The game was a fairly mundane 1-0 win for Villa. A Milner goal gave them a slight advantage but the only question really was, would Villa regret not scoring more?

Both second leg matches were dramatic and overall both teams deserved to get to the final. Away goals wouldn’t have counted until the extra time; the only way the games could go to penalties is if Man United beat City 2-1 and if Blackburn beat Villa 1-0.


There had been a few controversial off-field matters between Gary Neville and Tevez ahead of the game at Old Trafford on the 27th Jan, which helped stoke up the rivalry. There were no goals in the first half but second half and first blood fell to United. Giggs found Luis Nani in the City area, he was surrounded by City defenders but managed to pick out Carrick, who laid the ball off to Scholes who stuck the ball past Shay Given and it was 2-2 on aggregate.

With less than 20 minutes to go, United were 2-0 up and 3-2 up on aggregate.. Fletcher found Carrick, who’s striker found the far corner of the goal. The game wasn’t over and it was Tevez who scored yet again for City. Tevez beat Rio Ferdinand to the ball and put it past Edwin Van Der Sar, the scoreline was now 2-1 and it looked like we were going to go to extra time. Three minutes were added on at the end, two minutes in and Old Trafford erupted. Giggs crossed the ball into the penalty area and Rooney was there to head past Given and take United to the Carling Cup final.

Many were expecting another routine win for Villa when they took Rovers on, on the 20th January but what we saw was a 10-goal thriller. Aston Villa came from 2-0 down to beat Rovers 6-4 (7-4 on aggregate).
Nikola Kalinic opened up the scoring with a headed goal from a corner. That put Rovers on the front foot and they doubled their lead with another goal from Kalinic. Martin Olsson saw his effort saved by Villa keeper Guzan but the ball fell for Kalinic, who couldn’t miss. 2-0 to Rovers on the night, 2-1 on aggregate.

Aston Villa woke up and the comeback was on after Stephen Warnock pulled a goal back for the home side. Ashley Young crossed into the area, Agbonlahor and Ryan Nelsen were both on the ground but luckily for Villa Warnock was there to smash the ball in.

It may have been 2-2 on aggregate but things were made harder for Rovers after Chris Samba was sent off after bringing Agbonlahor down in the penalty area, a red card for the defender and a penalty for Villa, which was converted by Milner. 3-2 to Villa on aggregate, 2-2 on the night.

Second half and with an extra man, it was Villa who took the lead. Rovers failed to clear a corner which resulted in a Steven N'Zonzi own goal. So, it was now 3-2 to Villa on the night, 4-2 on aggregate but there was plenty of time for more goals.


Milner scored Villa’s fourth after he managed to curl the ball past Paul Robinson, this was followed by a Heskey goal, he was put through by Milner, went past Robinson and got Villa’s fifth. Blackburn did pull a goal back to make it 5-2, a stunning bicycle-kick by Martin Olsson gave Rovers a glimmer of hope.

Amazingly Rovers scored another through Brett Emerton to make it 5-4 (6-4 on aggregate). Hopes of another to make it 5-5 were dashed when A.Young scored Villa’s sixth which took them to the final of the Carling Cup.

Last night a stoppage time goal by Wayne Rooney took Man United through to the final of the Carling Cup, at the expense of neighbours Manchester City. City had taken a 2-1 lead into yesterday’s game, mainly down to a dodgy penalty but that doesn’t matter now.

The Carling Cup isn’t at any Man United fans list of priorities; it is probably at the bottom but when Man United and Man City were drawn together for the semi-finals that flew out of the window. Beating the ‘noisy neighbours’ to get to the final was and still is a fantastic feeling.

After the 2-1 loss at the City Of Manchester Stadium there was a feeling of injustice, we shouldn’t have lost the game. The interviews that Carlos Tevez did after the game just built the game up even more. United were ready for a passionate, fiery game.

Rio Ferdinand denied the FA charge of violent conduct, which meant that he could play for United. Sir Alex went with five in midfield, leaving Rooney up front and Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen on the bench.

Man United starting XI- Edwin Van Der Sar, Rafael da Silva, Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Luis Nani, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney.

Rooney is a striker full of confidence and that showed, nine minutes in he managed to turn away from Micah Richards and unleash a strike at goal, which Shay Given saved. Three minutes later Scholes was all set up and ready to score a cracker but unfortunately the ball was blasted over the bar.

Around the 19 minute mark there was a slight clash between Ferdinand and Tevez. Both players were tussling with the ball, which ended in Tevez on the floor holding his face. There was nothing in, maybe Tevez’ face was caught slightly by Ferdinand’s elbow but it didn’t warrant Tevez making a meal out of it.

City’s first meaningful attempt on goal came in the 22nd minute. Craig Bellamy headed the ball towards goal, which Van Der Sar easily plucked out of the air. That was quickly followed by a good run by Tevez, the United players backed off him but Ferdinand was there to put a stop to it.
City were starting to get into the game and on the half hour mark Van Der Sar did well to push a Tevez header away from goal.

That slight domination didn’t last long, minutes later Giggs had a stinging effort saved by Given. 10 minutes until the break and we all saw what we already knew- Scholes can’t tackle. The midfielder went straight into the back of City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips, which resulted in a booking for Scholes.

Before half time, referee Howard Webb had a few dodgy minutes. First Rafael was booked for a challenge on Bellamy, it was a free-kick but it was never a booking. Then in the City penalty area, Fletcher was penalised for absolutely nothing.

Second half and neither manager made a change. City got off to the brighter start with Richards cutting inside and unleashing a powerful strike at goal, which was wonderfully saved by Van Der Sar. That was followed by a shot by Bellamy but it was straight at the United keeper.

50 minutes into the game and there was a disappointing moment. Bellamy went to take a corner and a few United fans decided to throw a coin, bottle and some other stuff at him. The coin hit Bellamy and he was down on the ground for a bit. Van Der Sar ran over to his aid and told the fans to stop. I can’t stand Bellamy but seriously, that’s not on.

Two minutes later and United were level on aggregate. Rooney found Giggs who ran at the City defence, he found Nani in the penalty area. Nani was unable to do anything due to being surrounded by City players but he managed to pick out Carrick, he managed to poke the ball to Scholes who was waiting to stick the ball into the back of the net.

That goal pulled us level on aggregate, away goals wouldn’t have counted until the end of extra time, which meant if the score stayed the same at this point, we would be heading to extra time. The only score line that would have taken us to penalties would have been Man United 2-1 Man City.

That goal woke United back up again and we started looking for the second. Fletcher came close but his shot was blocked by a United player. 65 minutes in and Howard Webb showed Nani a very soft yellow card and not for the first time in the game. But that was followed later by some good refereeing. There was a slight clash between Richards and Fletcher, other players pulled them apart and the referee kept a calm head and just talked to them.


With less that 20 minutes to go United did grab their second goal. Nani cut in on the right and found Fletcher, he was unable to get a shot but that didn’t matter, Fletcher managed to lay the ball off to Carrick and he did manage to get a shot. Carrick found the far corner of the goal and United had a 2-0 lead.

Rooney came so close to grabbing United with a third not long from the re-start. Evra crossed the ball in and Rooney sliced a sitter. With 15 minutes to go, Sir Alex Ferguson made his first substitution- Wes Brown came on for Rafael.

The game wasn’t over and who else would score for City but Tevez? It was bound to happen with all the hype ahead of the game. Tevez beat Ferdinand to the ball and put the ball past Van Der Sar. With the game at 2-1 (3-3 on aggregate) the game was going to extra time and possibly penalties.

With 10 minutes to go Roberto Mancini brought Emmanuel Adebayor on for the first time since the terror attack on the Togo team bus, he came on for Wright-Phillips.

Rooney was guilty of missing a sitter before the City goal and Carrick was guilty of missing one after the City goal. After some good play by Giggs, Carrick had two chances to shot but the second went for a goal kick. United’s second substitution came 89 minutes in, Antonio Valencia came on for Nani. A quick note on Nani- since returning from injury he has looked better, hopefully he can keep it up.

3 minutes were added on by the referee and it did look like we were going to go to extra time. Two minutes into stoppage time and Old Trafford erupted. Giggs cross into the penalty area was headed past Given to give United a 3-1 lead by Rooney.

That goal gave United a 3-1 win (4-3 on aggregate) and on the 28th February Man United will be playing Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final.

Tomorrow’s game between Man United and Man City doesn’t need any building up. The second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final will be one hell of a match to watch with passion, honour, pride and a date at Wembley at stake.

After a very fortunate 2-1 win over Man United at the City Of Manchester Stadium, City are one step into the final but it is all to play for. If we play the same way we did days ago against City, then we will be going to Wembley.

Ahead of the game there has been a bit of a war of words between Gary Neville and Carlos Tevez. To be fair, it was actually more of Tevez taking a few swipes at his former team-mate and club. The funny side of it- Tevez doesn’t speak English and doesn’t know what has really been said.

Last year Man United went into the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Derby County 1-0 down but ended up going to the final with a 4-2 win at Old Trafford.

Man United go into the game with no new injury worries. Nemanja Vidic is definitely out with a calf injury. We aren’t quite sure if Rio Ferdinand will play or not, if he accepts the charge of violent conduct he has been charged with today then he won’t play. If Ferdinand doesn’t accept the charge then he will be able to play, if the FA believes that he only denies the charge so he can play, then they may hand him an extra match ban.

Man City will have Robinho available to play even though Man City are in talks with two Brazilian clubs to take him on loan. Kolo Toure is back from the Africa Cup of Nations, Emmanuel Adebayor is expected to make the bench after returning from compassionate leave.

Predicted Man United starting XI- Edwin Van Der Sar, Rafael da Silva, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Luis Nani, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Antonio Valencia, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney.

Predicted scoreline- Manchester United 3-1 Manchester City

I don’t really know where to start with Man United’s 2-1 loss to Man City last night. City were outplayed on their own ground and were only let back into the game because of a dodgy penalty. Saying that it was a dodgy penalty is probably an understatement, it wasn’t a penalty.

To make things worse, it was Carlos Tevez who scored both goals. If the celebrations after both goals weren’t provocation towards the Man United fans, I don’t know what is. Tevez can try and provoke the Man United fans all he wants, we know who the better team is and that has been proven over the years. Man United either didn’t want to buy him or couldn’t afford him, to be honest, now I am glad that we didn’t waste £25 million on him.

I don’t normally moan about referee’s but Mike Dean was very disappointing last night. Man United players were booked for nothing but when Tevez went in with his foot high he got nothing. It took most of the game for Dean to show a City player a yellow cards when they blatantly should have had them earlier on.

What angers me the most about the referee’s performance was the penalty. There was a foul by Rafael outside the box and it wasn’t just outside, it was way outside. I couldn’t believe it when Dean pointed to the spot and I still can’t believe he did.

Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra really impressed me last night. It was a massive derby game and those two showed their passion. Edwin Van Der Sar didn’t have the best of games but he did pull off a few good saves. Jonny Evans and Wes Brown didn’t really have much to do at the back so they didn’t stand out. I wouldn’t say that any Man United player had a really bad game and that makes the loss even more frustrating.

The stats at the end of the game showed that United had 58% of the possession. We also had nine shots on target compared to City’s five.


I am not saying that Man United were fantastic, they weren’t but United fans shouldn’t worry about the second leg. If we play the same way we did last night, then we will win.

By the time next week comes around, United should have Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov back, there is also a possibility that Rio Ferdinand could be fit. If I were a Man City fan, I would be worrying. They got lucky last night.