Carling Cup Final: Aston Villa 1 – 2 Man Utd
Wayne Rooney came off the bench to head home a second-half winner for Manchester United as they retained their defence of the Carling Cup against Aston Villa at Wembley.
The defending champions got off to the worst possible start when Nemanja Vidic brought down Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty box inside the first five minutes.
Controversially, Vidic was not shown a red card after replays suggested he was the last defender in the Aston Villa attack.
James Milner confidently put away the penalty in the bottom right-hand corner to put the branded ‘underdogs’ ahead.
But Sir Alex Ferguson’s men drew themselves level just seven minutes later when defender Richard Dunne lost out in possession to Man Utd striker Dimitar Berbatov.
Dunne successfully got back but his tackle fell nicely into Owen’s path as he struck the ball past goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
The winning goal came fifteen minutes from time when Rooney, who came on for Owen at the start of the second half, headed home a looping cross from winger Antonio Valencia.
Villa put pressure on in the final few minutes, with Dunne heading a good chance wide – but Manchester United held on for cup glory.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told BBC Sport: “In the main we were the better team but credit to Aston Villa’s performance.
“In the last ten minutes when they started shoving up that big brigade of theirs, it was like the Alamo.”
It is the first time a team has defended the League Cup crown since Nottingham Forest won it back-to-back in the 1980’s.
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