Carling Cup Winners Yet Again!

United won the League Cup for the second year running and for the 4th time in the history of the club. It was an entertaining game from which United prevailed on top. This year's League Cup triumph will be even sweeter given the fact that we won it at the expense of Man City, our bitter rivals who we knocked out of the Cup in the semi finals. Owen celebrating his goal. Too bad he had to be subbed off because of an injury. He played well during the first half. Well done Mickey!

Man of the Match Valencia

Man of the Moment Rooney

The Gaffer proudly holding the Carling Cup

League Cup Winners 2010. Well done lads!

The Road to this year's Carling Cup success:
Won Vs Wolves @ OT
1-0
Scorer: Welbeck

Won Vs Barnsley @ Oakwell Stadium
2-0
Scorers: Welbeck & Owen

Won Vs Tottenham @ OT
2-0
Scorer: Gibson(x2)

Lost vs Man City (1st Semi Final) @ City Of Manchester Stadium
1-2
Scorer: Giggs

Won Vs Man City (2nd Semi Final) @ OT
3-1
Scorers: Carrick, Scholes & Rooney

Won vs Aston Villa(Final0 @ Wembley
2-1
Scorers: Owen & Rooney.

United 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Kuz
Rafael(Neville) Evans Vidic Evra
Valencia Fletcher Carrick Park(Gibson)
Owen(Rooney) Berbatov

United had a very good game today. Although Villa went ahead barely 10 minutes into the game, our players managed to mount a positive reaction which saw them overhaul the one goal defecit. A well taken goal by Owen and another header by Rooney made sure United win this cup again.

My man of the match was, without a shadow of a doubt, Valencia. He managed to assist Rooney yet again. Valencia's improvement has been virtually tangible! Meanwhile our defence was rock solid but I do admit that Vidic could have been sent off today. Berbatov had a good match while Owen did what he was asked to i.e score a goal. It's very unfortunate for him to bow out of the final with an injury. I hope it's nothing serious! We may need his finishing during this vital part of the season. Rooney was awesome when he replaced Owen. He managed to score a goal and hit the bottom of the upright. For all those who doubt Wayne's talents because he "rarely scores in big matches"...well you've got your answer today! He's worldclass! Our midfield was a bit shaky at times but controlled the game well in the second half.

Anyway it's good to win some silverware and as Fergie stated this win will boost the lads' morale. Well done UNITED!

United 3 - 0 West Ham

Foster

Neville Brown Vidic Evra

Valencia Scholes Anderson(Park) Gibson

Rooney(Diouf) Berbatov(Owen)

A brace by Rooney and a well taken goal by Owen were enough to see off a spirited West Ham side coming into this match with a high level of confidence. My man of the match was Antonio Valencia. He managed two assists, his 4th assist in a week. His crosses are getting better and better. He does not score a lot of goals but he is making sure United don't miss Ronaldo. Antonio creates a lot of goals for his team mates and we do not have to keep watching useless stepovers over and over again, something we got used to when Ronny was in our team.

Although West Ham were pretty much into contention for most of the 1st half, I still believe this was an easy win for United. I never expected United to succumb to another defeat or held to a draw, even though we were torn to shreds on Saturday. It's a relief to see Vidic back and even though there was Foster in goal, I felt more assured with Nemanja at the back.

Overall it was a good match. An eye pleaser. The passes that lead to United's goals were a joy to watch. Berbatov, who missed a couple of decent chances to go forward, was involved in Rooney's goals. His involement was good to see, however, I still expect more from him. On the other hand it was great to see Owen score another PL goal. He took his chance well and I'm really pleased for him. Scholes had a very good second half. He could have scored two goals but his passes were simply jaw dropping. How he manages those long passes never fails to amaze me. I agree with Fergie, Scholes could manage another year at OT.

Our next match is at Wembley. Fergie will field a very strong side. However, we all know that Aston Villa is a powerful team and I'm sure the neutrals are in for a great match. It's a great chance for United to win some silverware and I hope we retain our cup. C'Mon UNITED!

Everton 3 - 1 United

VDS

Neville Brown Evans Evra

Valencia Carrick Fletcher Park(Obertan)

Berbatov(Scholes) Rooney

Most United fans were still celebrating Berbatov's early goal when Everton equalised. Everton never looked back from that point on and two excellent young talents scored two more goals late in the second half. In my opinion Everton deserve this win. I think United had more possession but Everton were more threatening up front.

Rooney was not at his best today. He had an off day and I think that was the main reason why United had an off day. It seems that if Wayne doesn't play well, the whole team fails to do something. Our defenders were horrendous at times. They were all over the place. Carrick didn't have the best of games either. When Everton scored the third goal he was slowly jogging back towards Rodwell, the player who scored the third. Overall it was a poor performance and I think Fergie's substitutions weren't clever ideas either.

We lost an opportunity to go on top of the league but, to be honest, today, we never deserved to win and that's the reason why we did not leapfrog Chelsea. There are 11 matches remaining and anything can happen but I think our title challenge has taken a huge dent. Let's hope Chelsea slip at the Molineux...

Milan 2 - 3 United

VDS

Rafael(Brown) Rio Evans Evra

Nani(Valencia) Carrick Scholes Fletcher Park

Rooney

We rode our luck during the first half. True. Scholes's goal was a fluke. True. Milan could have buried the match inside the first 10 minutes. True. But United played some excellent football during the second half after the introduction of Valencia and two goals by Rooney put United virtually through to the quarter finals. However, a late late Seedorf goal gave Milan a glimpse of hope.

I didn't watch an awful lot from the 1st half but from what I've seen United were really poor. Our midfielders gave the ball away cheaply while our defenders were tortured by Pato and Ronaldinho. In fact Rafael and Evans looked like two amateurs during the first 20 minutes or so. Rooney was anonymous during the first hour mainly because Nani was not delivering any decent crosses. But everything changed with the introduction of Valencia. His first involvement in the game was a mouth watering cross which Rooney headed superbly. Our third goal was the result of an amazing chip by Fletcher. We've heard much about Pato, Beckham & Pirlo, but what Fletcher did was truly world class and overall he had a good game. Rooney confirmed what is already obvious. He is an excellent striker, one of the best in the world.

Anyway I'm a tad disappointed with the manner in which we conceded the second goal. We could have easily avoided it had Rafael not tried to cheekily try and dribble past a Milan midfielder.

The tie is still open. If I made my calculations right, they need to score two goals at Old Trafford. However, given this result, I'm more than confident that our players will finish Milan at Old Trafford in three weeks time. Until then we've got the 'little' matter of the Premier League to concentrate on...

Tonight's had it all: great goals, bizarre goals, early goals, late goals, headed goals, mesmerising skill, several lollipops, defensive fragilty, a confusing red card and ultimately a hugely satisfactory result for Fergie and co.

Aston Villa 1 - 1 United

VDS

Rafael Brown Evans Evra

Nani(s/o) Carrick Scholes(Valencia) Fletcher Giggs(Berbatov)

Rooney

If it wasn't for a clumsy challenge by Nani, which earned him a red card, I think we would have won this match for the simple reason that we played for an hour with 10 men and we still were the better side and the only side who looked like scoring the winner. Anyway the winner did not come and we dropped 2 points today. Our only goal was scored by Mr. Own Goal, yep, 'he' scored again! What a signing!

Nani's sending off was a bit dubious. Ok, I know, I may be wearing the red spectacles, but let's face it, we've seen worse fouls getting unpunished. I guess a yellow card would have been appropriate. I hope Nani's recent resurgence and morale boosting performances don't get undone by that challenge. He'll miss 3 PL games but there's the Milan game in which he'll undoubtedly feature.

Anyway 2 points dropped or one point gained? Time will tell.

United 5 - 0 Portsmouth

VDS
Neville Brown Evans Evra
Valencia Carrick Fletcher(Gibson) Nani
Rooney(Diouf) Berbatov(Owen)

Three own goals added up to a Rooney header and a superb strike by Berbatov, ensured that United get the 3 desired points quite easily. The huge gap between United and Portsmouth, the latter currently at the bottom of the table, was almost tangible.

Anyway, not much to say. The only thing that bothered me today was the fact that we could have easily scored another 3 goals but we didn't! Anyhow, we are now the top scorers in the league and have a superior goal difference to both Chelsea and Arsenal! I remember by December every pundit was blabbering about how good Arsenal are at the front and that nobody could match their goals scored tally. Well, we now have matched it and bettered it!

With Chelsea drawing during the week and winning unconvincingly against Burnley, I have a gut feeling that they might drop more points tomorrow. In the words of Sir Alex, I just hope that Arsenal "batter" Chelsea, but being realistic, I doubt it. I'd welcome a draw though!Meanwhile our next league game isn't exactly easy either. Believe.