Sir Alex Ferguson steered his Manchester United side into the record books once again as it was the first time in history that the club had ever successfully defended a cup competition – a result that wasn’t without fortune, though, and a result that was secured with a familiar combination.

Antonio Valencia confirmed his rise from Premier League potential to Manchester United star in the making with a man of the match display from the Cup sponsors but it was Wayne Rooney who scored with a header from the Ecuadorians cross to win the game against Aston Villa, fittingly saving his best header of the season for this cup final.

In another re-writing of the domestic games’ history the Red Devils followed up last seasons equalling of league titles with Liverpool with a levelling of domestic and major club trophy hauls – while some may downplay the importance of winning this trophy, it has twice acted as a springboard for further success for Ferguson’s side and this success has indicated that there is a lot of life in this side that was written off after high profile pre-season departures.

Predictably it was done the hard way but admittedly it should have been much harder; Gabby Agbonlahor got goal-side of Nemanja Vidic in the opening stages and the Serbian could barely cope with the strikers pace. After seemingly – almost literally – getting to grips, the big defender felled his foe in the box leaving Phil Dowd no option but to award a penalty. And, according to the rule book, send Vidic off as he was the last man but Dowd – not exactly heralded for his lenience towards the holders given his decisions in the past – not only let Vidic reain on the pitch, but didn’t even book him, leaving to justifiable incredulous disbelief from the Villa faithful. James Milner wasn’t caught cold on the big stage, however, coolly turning his penalty past Tomas Kuszczak to give Villa a 1-0 lead after just 4 minutes.

It was a goal that immediately cast aspersions on Ferguson’s decision to bench the blisteringly in form Rooney (with the official line being a bout of influenza) and caused panic given the impressingly talented list of absentees of United players that included Ferdinand, Hargreaves, Anderson, Nani and Giggs to name just five. But before the United faithful even had choice to voice their displeasure at the selection, on 12 minutes, Richard Dunne provided an intervention, slipping on the ball long enough to invite Dimitar Berbatov in. Berbatov cantered towards goal and almost apologetically, and criminally, let Dunne back in, and while the big Irish defender won the ball, he only succeeded in diverting it into the path of Michael Owen. Owen has been the subject of press speculation recently regarding his World Cup pretensions but he grabbed this chance with both hands to slot home from 18 yards, on what was incredibly his first Wembley Cup Final appearance.

The goal was the sweet part of a bittersweet afternoon for the veteran forward who probably gave watching England boss Capello a full exclosure of his career in a nutshell – coming off after pulling up with what was clearly a hamstring injury when presented with a goalscoring opportunity. Owen was replaced by Rooney on the 40th minute, by which time both sides had only conjured up one notable chance each – Milner was allowed to drift with the ball unchallenged on the 15th minute and once he found himself with a reasonable sight of goal opened fire but Kuzszcak was equal to it, and in the 20th minute, Park and Berbatov worked an opening well with the South Korean failing to trouble Brad Friedel.

Rooney’s introduction gave the opposition defenders an instant new headache, although it was lack of concentration on marking his partner in crime in recent weeks, Valencia, that almost gifted United a half time lead. Valencia skipped past Warnock who slipped unfortunately, and then played the ball to Park 10 yards out. Park shifted feet quite smartly but his shot hit the post, went across goal and was cleared by Cuellar on the line.

After the break, though, United were clearly the team in the ascendancy, even if the open feel of the first period gave way to a more traditional, cagey, final feel. Villa were obviously wary of the threat posed by the Valencia/Rooney combo but it was another Berbatov back heel that almost exposed them in the 49th minute, finding Carrick who moved the ball onto his right and forced a smart stop from Friedel.

The tentative approach from either side was finally blasted away when a patient build up finally broke the deadlock – United were trying to exploit their most potent option, and they managed to do that in the 74th minute when Fletcher made space to turn the latest passing movement into Valencia’s area. The winger played the pass into Berbatov, whose flick was extravagant and functional, and Valencia’s cross was right into the path of Rooney. Admittedly, the recent combination has afforded United’s leading scorer the luxury of just moving into the right space to finish the move, however the cross, though accurate, was lacking in pace and required a demonstration of Rooney’s reported aerial improvement over the last 12 months. That demonstration was duly delivered beyond the flailing hand of Friedel. The frightening combination almost struck again just 4 minutes later, but Rooney’s header hit the post and was moved to safety.

Villa did, in fairness, push to equalise and did hit the woodwork themselves when Stewart Downing’s cross was met by Heskey and deflected by Vidic onto the crossbar, but aside from that and a last minute cross, again from Downing, that was met by Dunne and was unlikely to trouble the keeper, you could sense that the belief was gone through the majority of the second half. Indeed, had United had been more inclined, you had the feeling that they could have extended the advantage. In the end, though, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men had done enough to once again ensure English football history was due another re-write.

Ratings : Kuszczak 7, Rafael 7 (Neville 6), Evans 6, Vidic 6, Evra 7 , Valencia 8, Fletcher 8, Carrick 7, Park 8 (Gibson), Berbatov 7, Owen 7 (*Rooney

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Wayne Rooney’s injury time header finally settled this Carling Cup semi final derby to deservedly send Manchester United to Wembley to defend the trophy. Carlos Tevez had scored to level the tie after Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick had put United into a commanding position but Rooney’s intervention meant a gruelling extra time period was avoided ahead of the weekend trip to Arsenal in the league.

After a rip-roaring first leg both sides took a while to get going in what was typical of the cat and mouse affairs that personify semi final second legs – both managers however did stick to first choice teams with Sir Alex Ferguson favouring a conservative midfield with ball retention in mind. Of the admittedly few first half chances, Ryan Giggs worked Shay Given into a save from a 20 yard tester and moments later Given had to be alert to block Rooney at the near post. Tevez then had a chance to score at the Stretford End with a header but van der Sar was equal to it.

Perhaps realising that City’s set up wasn’t likely to change given it was their most potent, the Red Devils came out with one thing in mind though ironically the visitors could have snatched a lead in the opening moments of the second period. Micah Richards advanced and struck a long range effort that van der Sar had to be at stretch to deny; City’s short spell of attacking the United goal was punctuated by first a bad Tevez tackle on Rafael that saw the Argentine booked, and second a disgraceful scene where coins and bottles were thrown at Craig Bellamy as he prepared to take a corner. That Bellamy was unscathed was a relief; within the minute he was up and exchanging unpleasantries with Rio Ferdinand for some unknown reason, but neither that or the identical episode with Evra last week justifies the appalling crowd behaviour.

Thankfully it was all good news from thereon; United broke almost immediately when Rooney’s sublime long ball was controlled and wisely used by Giggs when the temptation to shoot on his right may have been unbearable; instead he used all of his experience to tee up Nani. Nani was blocked and the loose ball was stabbed by Carrick back to Scholes who was on the edge of the area. Scholes has made a career out of scoring in such circumstances and didn’t disappoint here, to the delight of the Stretford End. Four minutes later it could have been two – the ball seemed to pinball around the box with half shots that weren’t connecting, the clearest being a Darren Fletcher effort that actually hit Giggs before diverting away.

That second goal was always on the cards and it arrived on the 71st minute. A throw in found Fletcher whose pull back teed up Carrick; his finish in these scenarios is usually unerring and so it was here to put United firmly in the driving seat. Had Rooney been more alert he could have put the tie out of sight moments later – Giggs brilliantly played in Evra who in turn brilliantly set up United’s leading scorer but he couldn’t sort his feet out and the shot was horribly miscued.

The miss looked to be costly as Tevez flung himself at a cross to divert the ball in 3 minutes later. It was great invention from the ex-United player even though a pedant may argue the goal may have been ruled out for the extremely high boot.

The goal meant the tie was perfectly balanced – United didn’t let the goal get them down and almost restored their two goal advantage when Carrick’s two shot attempt from Giggs’ pass screwed wide. At the other end it was City’s fans turn to have their heart in their mouth when Adebayor headed horribly wide when challenged only by Evra. Three minutes of injury time were on the clock as United pushed in search of settling the game before extra time; they thought they were going to Wembley when Fletcher got on the end of Giggs’ corner, but the Scot was denied sensationally by the Irish keeper.

It was Giggs’ short corner that was returned to the Welshman that proved the telling ball; his cross into the box was fabulous and arched perfectly for Rooney to rise and thump the header in. He denied it later saying he was always confident he’d get another chance but the forward must have felt slight relief following his earlier miss – not that he had anything to prove after another performance where he led the line brilliantly.

With no time to respond, like the league game here, City were exposed to a familiar heartbreak as Manchester United were able to bask in the sweetest way to return to Wembley.

Ratings : van der Sar 7, Rafael 7 (Brown 7), Ferdinand 7, Evans 8, Evra 7, *Fletcher 9, Carrick 8, Scholes 8, Nani 7 (Valencia), Rooney 8, Giggs 8

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Carlos Tevez has spoken about the comments from Manchester United club captain Gary Neville towards him regarding his decision to leave Manchester United for Manchester City. On Tuesday the former United striker seemed to be more interested in winding up his old employers than celebrating with Manchester City fans after scoring a controversial penalty in the 2-1 victory over United and celebrated with a hand gesture, that was in reference to Neville’s comments . However, since the 1st leg the Argentinian has spoken about the criticism aimed at him by Neville regarding his departure to Eastlands.

Tevez felt that Neville “wasn’t involved in the contract discussions” and therefore should not have an opinion on the matter:

“I was particularly disappointed with what Gary Neville had to say because he was not aware of the full details of my contract negotiations with Manchester United, because I kept them very much to myself. “Sir Alex Ferguson knew that my contract was coming to an end and it was not until the last day that I was finally made an offer. It was too late by then. For Gary to make his comments was disrespectful.”

Tevez seemed to forget the fact that his advisers were demanding a much large fee for the player than was originally agreed and that he held the record for the fourth highest appearances in 2008/09 – whilst only finding the back of the net five times in the league and twice in the Champions League. He then decided to take a stroll down memory lane – discussing the moments both he and Neville shared in his United days, whilst also stating that United players and management must ‘respect’ him:

“We were team-mates and we played alongside each other and won trophies together and I have a great respect for Gary. I thought the feeling was mutual. The goal celebration was made without any malice. It was in the passion of scoring in a Manchester derby. It was part of the banter of football and I’m sure he will give me something like that back if he scores at Old Trafford next week. I have respect for all the United players and the management and I believe I deserve their respect back.”

Ryan Giggs was in an optimistic mood after reflecting on the events at Eastlands last Tuesday and compared the second leg clash to that of last year’s, against Championship side Derby County. United lost 1-0 in the first leg, but beat the Rams 4-2 at Old Trafford – which saw Carlos Tevez get on the scoresheet. Giggs was quoted as saying:

“I hope it is similar to the Derby game. We beat them quite comprehensively in the second leg so hopefully we can do that again.”

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Carlos Tevez scored twice to give Manchester City a slight advantage going into the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final but to say the result was fortunate would probably be the understatement of the decade so far. The game was re-arranged after being originally postponed for snow; but Sir Alex Ferguson was true to his hint that he would shake things up following the FA Cup exit and play a stronger side – it was more or less United’s strongest, in a 4-3-3, as City did likewise.

After dictating the pace of the game it was no surprise that United scored the opener just after the quarter hour – Patrice Evra’s crossfield pass found the in-form Antonio Valencia who skinned Craig Bellamy before flashing a cross across the 6 yard box. Wayne Rooney got in front of Kompany to divert it goalwards, experienced stopper Shay Given was equal to it, but he was helpless to stop captain Ryan Giggs scoring front point blank range with the goal at his mercy.

City struggled to impose themselves on the game. With Anderson and Fletcher busy in midfield, Rooney never giving the defenders peace, and Valencia always an option on the left, the visitors always looked more likely to notch again. Roberto Mancini’s team began to show a little of their nasty side in an attempt to unsettle United’s defenders and it worked, temporarily – a thigh high lunge by Tevez on Wes Brown did nothing to endear him to the travelling supporters and was left unpunished by Mike Dean who was showing signs of not being able to handle the game despite his wealth of experience -the ex-Red Devil forward Tevez almost equalised but his header from Wright-Phillips’ cross was woefully off target.

Dean then saw fit to award a penalty in favour of the home team for shirt tugging by Rafael on Bellamy – the offense clearly took place outside of the box, Dean seemed to be indicating the spotkick was awarded for a second offense that only he must have seen. Tevez duly smashed in to equalise and then gestured for around 30 seconds to United fans and officials alike. City’s lack of discipline was on show yet again moments after the kick off as Valencia attempted to attack down the right and was stamped on by Bellamy in another disgraceful foul that went unpunished by the referee. The atmosphere was, for the first time, at fever pitch, and although United did attempt to establish some late pressure in the first half, Sir Alex was probably relieved to get his troops back in the changing room.

The second half began much the same as the first – Wes Brown fielded a long ball towards Rooney who capitalised on Kompany’s hesitancy to sneak in but his shot on the turn was saved by Given. Rooney was stamping his authority on the game and was unplayable in the second half – shortly after this chance he turned provider, easily beating his marker and putting a cross in for Giggs. The Welshman’s header was brilliantly improvised but was always unlikely to score given the angle.

It was then Tevez’s – and referee Mike Dean’s, for that matter – to take centre stage again when a corner was awarded for City following Wright Phillips poor ball that whimpered out of play. The poor decision to award the corner did not excuse the shambolic defending that followed, United pushed out when the ball was still around the area, Kompany hooked the ball across the 6 yard line and Tevez bravely threw himself at the ball to notch his second and indulged himself in yet more gesturing.

While the goals were admittedly just reward for his fine energetic display, the kind of which United fans used to adore him for, the best player on the pitch, Wayne Rooney, was not destined to get the reward his performance deserved. United made changes as Michael Owen came on for Anderson – more tactical than performance based as the Brazilian continued his impressive recent form – and while the veteran English striker’s impact in the previous Manchester derby was in the final stages, he almost immediately made an impression, feeding in Rooney who was again denied by Given before striking the rebound, that beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by Onouha.

It was all United from here on, the hosts did break with some menace, attempting to exploit Rafael’s yellow card from the penalty (a decision made incredible by the referee’s leniency with the brutal fouls in the first half) through Bellamy, but the ball always came back and City’s goal was living a charmed life and the Irish keeper had to be alert again as Rooney fantastically danced through 3 or 4 challenges and tried a classy poke into the top corner only to be denied. Valencia was next to miss when his attempt to volley a fizzed cross was wild with the goal gaping, and then Mame Diouf (on for Rafael in injury time) just failed to get the proper connection on a Giggs corner.

There was still time for a late penalty appeal after a City defender appeared to handle Rooney’s cross but Mike Dean was in no mood to play by the rules. The game finished, decided by two goals that were of direct consequence of Dean’s mind boggling decisions and two possible red card incidents that he deemed worthy of no card whatsoever.

Dean and Fergie have history – after United’s 4-3 win over Hull in 2008 the United manager was fined and given a touchline ban for making comments about the officials performance, and it can’t help but be noted that this is a referee who was removed from FA Cup Final duties in 2006 because the FA were concerned he would be pro-Liverpool. On the plus side, it was an encouraging performance from the holders who dominated the game and absolutely battered their local rivals in the second half.

Another performance like that in the second leg, with a balanced referee, and United should be heading to Wembley to defend their trophy.

Ratings : van der Sar 6, Rafael 7 (Diouf), Brown 6, Evans 7, Evra 8, Valencia 8 (Scholes), Carrick 7, Anderson 7 (Owen 6), Fletcher 8, Giggs 8, *Rooney 9

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In a repeat of the final from last season there was a familiar result as Manchester United overcame Tottenham Hotspur. Darron Gibson scored two fantastic long range goals to secure a semi final spot for the Red Devils in a tie that was more straightforward than they could ever have hoped for.

After the critics sharpened their knives following last weeks disappointment against Besiktas and with free scoring Tottenham in town Sir Alex Ferguson resisted the opportunity to field a first XI and kept faith with the majority of the team that played against the Turks, though Macheda was named on the bench as Dimitar Berbatov was selected to come back from injury.

The Bulgarian had been named on the bench at Fratton Park but conditions were not favourable so he was in from the start tonight.

Ferguson’s message to his exuberant youths would no doubt have been the usual “trust yourself and enjoy” and with early 25 yard sighters from Anderson and Gibson it was clear they were not about to let their heads drop. Tottenham did attempt to exert pressure by exploiting pace on the wings but their temporary purple patch was well and truly flattened when on the break, Anderson worked well to set up Darron Gibson, who steered home brilliantly from 25 yards.

Gibson was one of those more harshly panned through the last 7 days – and as we blogged earlier, those pretend journo’s at Football365 declared he was destined to not make it at the highest level – but his eye for the spectacular reared it’s head again with 7 minutes to go until the break after a swift, smart move saw him receive the ball. He played it to Welbeck whose return was perfectly weighted, screaming “score”, Gibson duly obliged with a sumptuous curler into the top corner.

In between the two goals Spurs did threaten, but two brilliant Nemanja Vidic blocks and a Richie De Laet intervention kept Tomas Kuszczak’s clean sheet intact. Indeed, another smart move almost brought a third for the holders in first half stoppage time, as Obertan’s delicious slide rule pass just evaded Berbatov, whose ringrust may have been the defining factor in his inability to reach the ball.

The second half was essentially a procession with the token gestures – Spurs made the changes to try and ruffle things up, United in turn actually gained in composure and confidence and looked the more likely to add to their score with a series of clever counter attacks, though neither net was severely troubled.

Bentley’s effort which drew a punch save from United’s Polish stopper and Macheda’s injury time 20 yard drive were the closest either side came to changing the scoreline but the ever improving Anderson and the increasingly impressive De Laet gave very big plusses in that second period for Ferguson to consider.

The last word of course should go on the goalscorer – Gibson’s ability to strike from range has never been in doubt but there was an obvious question mark on his character given the slight on his performance over the last week – and while it is still too early to give a fair indication on how he will develop, his response in not only facing up against top level opposition but also excelling will earn him rave reviews with the Old Trafford backroom staff who already hold him in high regard.

Ratings : Kuszczak 7, Neville 7, Brown 7, Vidic 8, De Laet 8, Park 6, Anderson 8 (Tosic), *Gibson 9, Obertan 7 (Carrick), Welbeck 7, Berbatov 7 (Macheda)

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Rarely will Sir Alex have been so delighted at the speed of another occasion to throw in his latest set of fledglings as he will be tonight – after they were roundly criticised for not winning against Besiktas despite battering them, the Carling Cup tie against last years finalists Tottenham provides him with a glorious opportunity to test their character.

Whether it’s as a team – they won’t make it – or individually check out this comment from one of those guys at Football365 who plays at being a “journalist” – apparently Gibson is “destined for a transfer to Everton in a couple of years” and this is earmarked as some kind of failure – the same guy says Ferguson should by now have “accepted that Nani, Anderson and even Carrick aren’t upto the job”.

Now, this kind of statement is confusing because I wonder what standards they are being judged on. Is it trophy count? Surely not, as United have undeniably been the most successful side in the country for 3 years.

Is it progression at the side of their opponents? A quick look at the table will tell you that for all the media hyperbole about the likes of Fabregas, Denilson and Walcott, when it comes to cold hard facts all of the evidence would support that their peers at Old Trafford are far advanced.

Is it how far they are at this stage of the season? Perhaps so, but considering that moving into December, United are only second by 5 points to a team that fielded a twice as expensive starting XI, I would hardly call that a damning edict, especially taking into account we have already visited last year’s second and third placed teams.

Are their failings being masked by the brilliance of the older players? Perhaps so, again, but having spent the last few years writing off Giggs and Scholes while saying O’Shea and Fletcher would never amount to anything I’m yet to see a media 180 or any hack holding their hands up and saying “Yeah we got that wrong, Fletcher is probably the best midfielder around this season”. If you didn’t watch the game and relied on the printed word and websites, you would be forgiven for wondering if United win all these trophies IN SPITE of their players!

More likely than any of the above theories however is the probability that this generation of know-nothing-know-it-alls, with no other stick to bash United’s current crop of youngsters with, are simply chastising them because they haven’t yet condemned the likes of Giggs and Scholes to the scrapheap.

Think about that, if you will.

Suffering from criticism NOT because of their achievements, which are better than most of their opponents, but suffering from criticism because the two best players of the generation – two of the top 5 ever seen in the entire history of the sport in England – are still capable of playing better than anyone else. All this is done with a double edged sword, the media dagger of doom, ready to call time on Scholes if he misplaces one pace, ready to say Carrick or Gibson can’t replace him if they misplace two.

Because of this it welcomes all manner of moronic debate, Spearing of Liverpool is worthy of comparison to Gibson, Gibbs of Arsenal compares to Fabio and the most laughable thing I’ve read from an Arsenal perspective, that Denilson is comparable to Anderson. This isn’t a new craze, who can forget the “Reyes is better than Ronaldo” debate that raged on?

In his first two seasons, regardless of anyone’s opinion, Anderson has played more than just a worthwhile contribution in a team that has collected two Premier League trophies, a Champions League, a World Club Cup and a Carling Cup.

The much maligned Nani suffers in comparison to his all conquering compatriot predecessor at United but at the side of someone like Theo Walcott then our back flipping winger suddenly begins to look, well, not quite so bad, with consistency that surely makes the likes of Albert Riera blush.

In Welbeck we have a natural finisher that embarrassingly outweighs that instinct of a Vela, a Bendtner or a Ngog, a local lad to boot, yet predictably the other three get raved about (Scouse logic now has it that Ngog is better than Owen) while Fergie’s talk of Welbeck being a World Cup outsider is scoffed at by the same national media that hung on Wenger’s every word about a player he didn’t even trust to make his own bench in 2006, and has not developed since.

All this talk of how ineffectual Carrick and Anderson are is remarkably short sighted considering that just a few weeks ago Chelsea’s seemingly imperious midfield were anonymous against them. Is Carrick’s biggest crime that he came up short against, currently, the best two midfielders in the world in the Champions League Final?

Likewise, is Gibson’s “destined failure” down to coming up short in dictating a game on his FIRST Champions League start? What passes for dictating these days anyway? I ask this because United can win against Arsenal and still Arsenal come out as the team with more credit yet against the Turkish Champions, well, United may not have been sparkling but had over 25 shots at the Besiktas goal and found Rustu Recber is sparkling form. This is a side that for the bulk of the game had two teenagers up front and a winger not only new to the side but still recovering from injury.

It is far from the end of the road, to the contrary, it could prove to be the making of these players. On another day the Besiktas game could have easily finished 5-1 to United.

The Barcelona mauling in 1994 didn’t define the career of the likes of Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes who were given a true rude awakening, likewise, the Carling Cup win in 2004 over Arsenal didn’t signal the start of a long career in the United midfield for Liam Miller and Djemba Djemba.

The Spurs game tonight won’t be the defining step in these players’ careers either (and it should be noted that the Spurs side United will face will be far superior to that Besiktas one) but what it should do is give us an indication of their character if, of course, Fergie selects them.

Regardless of that I’m with Fergie in that there’s enough there to show promise and at the very least what we saw against Besiktas is that the majority of the kids coming through have the spirit to chase a game until the final kick. I’m not blindly placing faith in them – in my book, any Manchester United side put out in European Competition should be able to beat, with all due respect, a Turkish team, but if they don’t, I don’t think that is endemic of the current crop of youngsters.

The fact of the matter is they have to live with the fact that the result was embarrassing for them because of the club they were representing and that in itself is a true test of character. But I implore any true Red reading this to not buy into the media whirlwind and start thinking things are worse than they are. If at the end of the season they’ve had ample chance and failed to impress then let’s throw the subject open for discussion.

When they are currently doing all that is asked of them and suffer one setback, let’s not automatically buy into the deluded fools who are trying to use the fact that they’re not Scholes or Giggs YET (and who is?) that they are not as good as our opponents, when the facts tell a different story.

Of course no-one knows how things will pan out. Maybe Denilson will surpass Gibson. Maybe our youngsters will end up with nothing. But we don’t know – I’m taking the optimistic (and historically favoured) route. And, win or lose (tonight or ultimately), if they are trying to play the United way, what more could we as fans ask for?

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Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen scored goals early in each half to secure progression from a comfortable 4th round Carling Cup tie at Oakwell against Barnsley, though the final 10 minutes raised an important question about player safety.

Though the first half was somewhat comfortable for the holders they did get a little complacent and/or disjointed to invite their lower league hosts back into the game.

Gabriel Obertan’s first involvement in a first team Manchester United shirt was a clever interchange with Rafael which won a corner. Anderson’s delivery of the set piece begged a goal and Danny Welbeck duly obliged, heading in smartly and unchallenged after 5 minutes. The Anderson and Welbeck combination almost reaped dividends in the 9th minute when the Brazilian’s stunning 40 yard pass was controlled expertly by his English team mate but the shot was smartly saved by the Barnsley keeper Luke Steele.

Ex-United trainee Steele was at it again soon after, denying Obertan, before Barnsley had their own spirited spell with three chances from corners – first Bogdanovic hit the post, then Tykes’ skipper Steve Foster failed to test his namesake in the United goal.

For the visitors’ part, they looked impressive in short spells, particularly through Welbeck, though at times it seemed as if he was getting a little head rush with his own display and wanting to take everything on his own. Welbeck it was though who created a gilt edged chance for Owen (who wasted it) in the opening minutes of the second half, and then substitute Tosic curled a screamer narrowly over – shortly after though, United did double their advantage and Anderson was provider again as Owen rectified his miss with super feet and a sublime finish past Steele.

Gary Neville was probably rightly sent off after leaving his foot in high despite winning the challenge against ex-Liverpool youth teamer Hammill – however the chubby young winger wasn’t happy with just this decision (even taking into consideration his indecision over whether to feign injury or start a confrontation) and the game began to take a sinister turn as it became clear Barnsley’s chances were evaporating. Whereas Neville’s tackle was clearly one made out of honesty with a bad follow through, Hammill made a reckless challenge on the impressive Rafael with no other intention but to harm his opponent but escaped any caution.

Conditions took a bizarre twist when two Barnsley fans invaded the pitch and confronted Ben Foster and took a complete age to be accosted by stewards, raising questions about the security of the club who were seemingly willing to accept an entirely possible personal attack on a visiting player but seemed ridiculously over zealous in their policing of the visiting crowd who had done nothing but enjoyed the game in good voice.

Progression to the quarter finals for the holders was the main thing but nonetheless the poorly controlled climax to the game should serve as a security concern nationwide.

Ratings : Foster 7, Neville 7, Brown 7, Evans 8, Fabio 7, Obertan 7, Rafael 7, *Anderson 8, Welbeck 8 (Tosic 6), Owen 7 (De Laet), Macheda 7

Source: (Yolkie)

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Carling Cup holders Manchester United, with a complete first XI switch, began the defence of the trophy with a comfortable but unconvincing display against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A drab first half was bereft of chances, with the major talking point being a sending off for Red Devils left back Fabio. Wes Brown couldn’t accurately deal with a ball on the halfway line and one time rumoured United target Michael Kightly raced clear. Fabio looked to be catching up but stumbled and in the process brought down the Wolves winger, referee Walton had no option with 30 minutes played but to dismiss the youngster.

Former United player David Jones forced a save from the free kick – the only meaningful work from either keeper in the first half. Fellow ex-United youngster Ebanks Blake had an earlier shot over the bar while Michael Owen should have done far better with a header from a pick your spot cross from Gary Neville – and a sliced Neville clearance in the dying moments of the opening period was sliced by Jones, but those aside, it was a first half largely dominated by wasteful passes in attack.

The holders got the only goal of the game just after the hour mark – a move involving Michael Carrick and then a wonderful one-two between Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen saw Welbeck coolly convert.

Wolves sub Kevin Doyle fashioned three saves from Tomasz Kuszczak while United debutant Josh King looked a little lively up front, but the scoreline was never really threatened.

Subs : Kuszczak 6, *Neville 7, Brown 7, Evans 7, Fabio 6, Welbeck 7 (King), Gibson 6, Carrick 7, Nani 6, Owen 6 (Valencia 5), Macheda 5 (De Laet 7)

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So.. the Carling Cup.

The Football League Cup is a curious animal for United. Just take our last four campaigns – as many humiliations as success stories.

It is a snapshot of our modern history in the competition, particularly since Sir Alex Ferguson (or just plain Alex as he was then) decided to use English football’s second cup as bleeding for his wet behind the ears youth prodigies.

Taken like that there doesn’t seem to be much wrong with the idea. Eccentric and innovative – it is the managers want how he fields a team and the only people he is truly responsible to are the board and the fans if the result backfires.

However back in 1994 Fergie faced uproar from an MP who raised the issue in the HoP about how United were “devaluing” the competition by fielding a team of youngsters intermittently joined by experienced legs needing match time or the returning wounded. The main argument being that fans of United were paying for their ticket expecting to see big stars, conversely that the visiting/opposing fans and players did too want to see and play against these players.

Nowadays of course those United fans who can say they were there for the Port Vale ties have a truly unique tale to tell. And those on the opposition probably get a spring in their step in the belief their chances of winning against England’s best side have probably just improved.

Those accusations of arrogance and devaluations continued for years, and in fact never really died down. Fergie’s method was then copied and implemented by first those clubs with European commitments and then the likes of Allardyce at Bolton who gave priority to Premier League survival. One only has to look at the reaction to Arsenal’s mauling of Sheffield United last season to see how the mood has changed.

The competition is now considered devalued but none of the accusations that came our way are ever levelled at other clubs. In fact I’m sure if you were to run a poll of fans United would probably be given the blame despite the fact that behind the myth Fergie tends to field a respectively far stronger side than most other Premier League clubs.

My own personal take? The prize for the trophy is the same as the prize for the FA Cup. Those that say the competition is devalued must also accept by the same token that it is probably more competitive – and that does make for an exciting competition. I love our club to win any proper trophy and the League Cup is one of those. Add into the pot that we are holders – the club should always have pride in being the holders and retaining any trophy.

At the end of the day if we lose the opposition have still beaten Manchester United – and if we win, then it’s another trophy to our illustrious history, and a true celebration of the real identity of the club. In that way, the competition is truly unique and should be celebrated as such.

*****

Speaking of pride in retaining trophies made me think of something else. This year we won’t be entering the World Club Cup due to Barcelona winning the Champions League but, should we, as holders? It’s certainly an interesting idea although I’m not entirely sure Sir Alex would welcome consecutive Far East mid-season trips.

Most other competitions have their holder in place to defend it. Just look at the way Liverpool managed to make people re-write the record books – do you think for a second if they won the World Club Cup that a) they wouldn’t let us know what an amazing trophy it is and b) that they wouldn’t be able to defend it?

I’m not saying that FIFA got it wrong because the rules are there – I just wonder if it’s something worth thinking about if they really want to give the competition greater prestige and advertising.

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• United lineup
• 08/09 season statistics so far

Manchester United won the Carling Cup on penalties after a confident display in the penalty shoot out following a goalless 120 minutes – which they just about edged.

The Red Devils made all the early running and a free kick from Ronaldo, a long shot from Darron Gibson and a fantastic piece of improvisation from Rio Ferdinand all resulted in the ball going narrowly over or wide from long distance, while Nani was the only United player to really test goalkeeper Gomes with a 20 yard drive.

Tottenham pushed on towards the end of the first half with Aaron Lennon showing his football equivalence of a toothless Yorkshire Terrier – plenty of running and effort but no real bite at the end of it, save for a shot in the second half which United keeper Ben Foster saved magnificently.

Anderson made his return from injury coming on for Danny Welbeck and immediately added a dynamism to the midfield, regularly carrying the ball over long distances or finding unexpected spaces, while Paul Scholes’ good form continued as the Ginger Prince sprayed 50 yard pass after 50 yard pass all over the pitch.

With a quarter of the game remaining Chris Foy made a big call by booking Cristiano Ronaldo for diving after a challenge from Ledley King just inside the area. Clearly this was a case of the Madeira magician’s reputation preceding him and his dive last week against Blackburn will have done him no favours in this instance. Replays showed contact was made and the debate will go on, do Ronaldo’s previous wrongs make this incorrect decision right?

Anderson had a 20 yard drive comfortably handled by Gomes and the best chance of the entire game came with 30 seconds of injury time after 90 minutes remaining, Ronaldo cutting in wickedly from the left and driving with real menace. The ball for once evaded the Spurs keeper but smashed against the post and bounced back into play.

United were shorn of Wayne Rooney due to a virus and Sir Alex Ferguson opted to leave Berbatov out altogether – this left the team with little aerial threat and the decision to replace Gibson with Ryan Giggs for extra time showed that Fergie was looking to win the tie with incisive passing.

The extra period provided little in the way of chances – just one clear cut for each side, Foster doing well again to deny Bent and Evra’s speculative shot astonishingly flying over the crossbar.

With penalties looming Redknapp brought on Bentley and O’Hara (who had missed last years triumph after being dropped by Ramos).

Ryan Giggs was first up and his penalty cannoned off the same post Ronaldo had hit earlier, only this time the ball whipped into the back of the net. United’s good fortune, and O’Hara’s unfortunate relationship with the Cup continued as the youngster’s strike was superbly saved by Ben Foster.

Tevez scored, as did Corluka, and when Ronaldo exorcised his Champions League demons with a successful strike from 12 yards Bentley knew his penalty was crucial. The expensive summer signing fluffed his lines, though, as his shot went wide of the post, and it was left to Anderson to have the chance to win the Cup.

United fans had already seen Anderson’s coolness under such pressure when he converted a sudden death penalty in the Champions League, and the man himself appeared to have little concern as he casually knocked the ball past Gomes to claim the trophy for Sir Alex’s troops.

The manager himself remained cool on talk of an unprecedented quintuple, but one thing that cannot be denied is that after this triumph and with such a commanding position in the league, United are on the verge of at least the second most successful season by an English side ever (the first being United’s treble side of 1999), regardless of whether they win the European Cup or FA Cup.

Source: (Yolkie)

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