Ex-United Tevez takes City to Victory, United takes home the Crucial away goal.

Two goals by former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez sealed the home win forManchester City in the league cup semi-final first leg at the city of Manchester Stadium. Although it was the visiting side taking the initial lead in the 17th minute through Welsh winger Ryan Giggs but the Argentine took City home with his double, final score being 2-1 for City. The big positive that Manchester United can take home for the return leg is the crucial away goal.

Pre-match everything was near perfection in the United camp with the return of Ryan Giggs in the mid field andEdwin Van der Sar at the goal. With wasting no time the Red Devils took the lead as early as the 17th minute through veteran winger and the skipper for the night Ryan Giggs when Valencia crossed the ball from the right corner which was directed by Wayne Rooney to the goal but the goal keeper Shay Given couldn’t hold the ball and deflected it only to find Giggs for an easy finish in the end.
On the other side Manchester City wasn’t really in the game with the maximum possession in United favour. But it was City who equalised in the 42nd minute through a controversial penalty awarded by the referee Mike Dean, looking into the replay Rafael made the contact outside the penalty area with Craig Bellamy which running for the ball and after that Bellamy took full use of the situation by diving in the box to give his side the spot kick. Tevezlevelled the scoreline after Van der Sar dived in the wrong direction. Half time score 1-1.

The home side got the vital lead in the 65 minute when a another controversial corner ball was punched by Van der Sar only to land up with Vincent Kompanywho chipped it to Tevez to head it into the back of the net. Replay show that Vincent Kompanywas in offside postion but that was not judged by the referee.
So in the end City took home the fixture but now all eyes are on 27th January fixture for the return leg at the Old Trafford. With the lead not wide enough the match is open for both the sides but with City having an upper hand.

Neighbours meet in Carling Cup for the big date in Wembley.

After the weather disturbed the whole of English football in the past with the league cup also falling as one of the victim, the premier tournament is back with the much important semi final clash between local rivals Manchester United and Manchester City at the City Of Manchester Stadium which was covered under heavy snow on the original scheduled date for the match. While the other two semi finalists Aston Villaand Blackburn Rovers will be playing its second leg at at Villa park after their first leg match was won by the visitors by a narrow margin of 1-0. With Aston Villa having the upper hand and with a home game they may be certain on road to Wembley and must be waiting for one of the Manchester team.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be banking on the return of Gary Neville and Edwin Van der Sar at the back for the defence that they needed. Further up front much would be expected from Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov to score in this crucial derby. Also the player to look for will be the new comer from Senegal Mame Biram Diouf who scored in his debut for the red devils. Ryan Giggs seems to be the concern of the moment after his missed the Saturday’s home game against Burnley.
According to Sir Alex, Manchester City has evolved as a competitive side by saying “You have to recognise they are a competitor now,” . City having been missing on a major title since 1976 and this seems to be the best opportuinity to finish the title drought. City has been doing considerable well under their new manager Roberto Mancini with their joint 4th position currently in the premier league.

The match will be starting at 1945 Hours GMT today (i.e. 0115 Hours IST on Wednesday)
Don’t confuse on the time fact, it can take many things away.

Gibson strikes twice, takes United to semi finals.

In the exciting League Cup Tuesday night football match at Old Trafford the hosts Manchester United sentTottenham Hotspurs packing with a 2-0 win over the Londoners. In the other quarter final of the night Aston Villacrushed Portsmouth 4-2 leaving very little to achieve for the Pompeys for the rest of the season in the premiership.

In the match at Old Trafford, Manchester United left very little to exploit for Tottenham giving them very little space in their half. Red Devils goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was also in his best, saving the ball neatly. And as soon as the fans settled down after singing their songs at the start of the match, the first goal was scored in the 16th minute byDarron Gibson for Manchester United giving a the all important 1-0 lead for the host making the fans scream again with the victory songs. United were looking bright in attack and solid in defence with Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic’s burgeoning partnership looking as strong as ever. It was also Dimitar Berbatov’s first appearance for United in a month. Tottenham come very close to scoring in the 20th minute through Robbie Keane but Vidic’s tackle cleared the ball. And just when everything was settling down Dimitar Barbatov, being picked out by Park on the left, flashed to find Gibson who played a one-two with Welbeck on the edge of the box before curling the ball into the top corner for a glorious second. Half time score 2-0.
Second half produced some spectacular display, Tottenham had their chances flowing when Bale squeezed past Neville on the left wing, before finding the unmarked Bentley in the area but his snapshot was brilliantly punched clear by the Polish keeper. The pair combined again soon after with Bentley heading Bale’s looping left-wing cross just wide of the United stopper’s near post. But with Spurs unable to find the net, the score remained as of the first half making Manchester United reach the semis…

Man United in Carling Cup last 8 stage.

Holders Manchester United made it through to the quarter finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Barnsley. Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen scored the goals. While their city rivals also march through the next round with a 5-1 victory over Scunthorpe with Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez and Michael Johnson scoring for them.

In the Manchester United match Vs Barnsley, the red devils made a perfect start with a sixth minute header by when Danny Welbeck from Anderson’s right-wing corner. Danny Welback has now scored two goals in two games. And the reds victory was sealed with a near to perfection finish by Michael Owen early in the second half. It was also a good day at the office for Ben Foster who managed to hold on the clean sheet for his club with a great save later in the game. One thing that pinched United was the red card given to skipper Gary Neville who slid in to challenge Adam Hammill, , and although he won the ball, he caught the opponent above the ankle and the referree for the night Chris Foy wasted no time in giving a straight red to him. So a 2-0 score line looks fine for the red devils as they head to the Quarter finals stage.

In the other matches played in the midweek,

Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. Fran Merida’s early goal was cancelled out by Emiliano Insua’s stunning strike. Nicklas Bendtner won the tie in the second half whileChelsea continued their high scoring form when they thrashed Bolton Wanderers with a 4-0 win, Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda, Deco and Didier Drogba scoring for the blues.

Other results are:

Blackburn 5 – 2 Peterborough

Tottenham 2 – 0 Everton

Sunderland 0 – 0 Aston Villa (Aston Villa win 3-1 on penalties)

Portsmouth 4 – 0 Stoke

Carling Cup this midweek

Going of track from the premier league, there is plenty of action this midweek all over UK as the league cup (or better known as the carling cup) matches will be in action. A tournament were the emerging players give their best so that they are counted when it comes to the main side. There is plenty of drama out there at the pitch when the players move. It is seen over the years that 3 players from the senior team are included in the carling cup team so as to add flavour and spectators to the event, not to forget the motivation to the young players.

From the teams point of view, the news from the Manchester City locker room is that forward Robinho could be set to make his return from injury in this week’s Carling Cup with Scunthorpe. The Brazilian has been out with an ankle injury since August. Manchester City’s owner and manager will be watching him closely.

Manchester United, who were that champions last time will be up against Barnsley and there is a little chance that Korean mid fielder Park Ji Sung will be available for the fixture. More will we expected from Danny Welbeck who scored in the last game in the third round against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The biggest attraction to this week’s carling cup will be Arsenal Vs Liverpool. Liverpool after defeating Manchester United will be high on confidence hoping to continue their winning performance while Arsenal on the other hand will be pushing hard for a win after there premier league draw against West Ham United.

Other matchs that will be played over the two days are:

Blackburn Rovers vs Peterborough United

Sunderland vs Aston Villa

Portsmouth vs Stoke City

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton

Chelsea vs Bolton Wanderers

A win looks certain for the Red Devils but they should look at a big win.

3-0 or a minimum of 2-0 looks gettable…

Marching on in the Carling Cup

A brief History: The League Cup or better known as the Carling Cup was the brainchild of Alan Hardaker, the Football League secretary from 1957 to 1979. The advent of floodlights at English football grounds in the 1950s brought with it the possibility of staging a midweek, evening competition and in 1960-61 the first League Cup competition took place. Aston Villa won it with a 3-2 aggregate victory in the final against Rotherham after overturning a 2-0 first-leg deficit. The following year Fourth Division Rochdale reached the League Cup final, losing to Norwich City.Only when the incentive of the winners being offered a place in the UEFA Cup did all the leading sides take part, however, and the League Cup final was switched to a one-off match at Wembley in 1967. This football series was known as the League Cup until 1980-81, The Milk Cup till 1985-86, The Littlewoods Cup till 1989-90, The Rumbelows Cup till 1991-92, The cocacola cup till 1997-98, The Worthington Cup till 2002-03 and now presently it is known as the Carling Cup.

Holders Manchester United were one of six Premier League sides to progress to the Carling Cup third round on Wednesday night. A superb goal from Danny Welbeck took United through to the fourth round of the Carling Cup, but the reigning holders were made to work for their progress after surviving the first-half dismissal of Fabio. Predictably, Sir Alex Ferguson made wholesale changes from the side which edged Sunday’s epic Manchester derby. Only Michael Owen and Michael Carrick, both late substitutes against the Blues, started against Mick McCarthy’s side. An influx of youth and fringe players prevailed, with senior squad debutants Joshua King and Magnus Eikrem named on the bench. A solitary goal would prove enough, however.
Despite spending over an hour of the match with 10 men, the holders march on into the fourth round of the Carling Cup.