Manchester United were good value for their Carling Cup success yesterday, without the obvious assistance of the inept referee Phil Dowd. The fourth minute penalty that handed Aston Villa an early lead came about when Nemanja Vidic upended the impressive Gabby Agbonlahor. It was a definite penalty and Vidic, as the last defender, denied Agbonlahor a clear goal scoring opportunity. The penalty was awarded; the red card didn’t follow it.
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So Manchester City head to Old Trafford for the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final derby with a slender 2-1 advantage courtesy of a brace from Manchester United old boy Carlos Tevez. Can they hold on to their lead to progress to Wembley?
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Love them or loathe them, Leeds United are on their way back. In Simon Grayson they have the right man at the helm, in Jermaine Beckford they have the country’s most prolific striker and in Elland Road they have 20,000 plus loyal supporters. The halcyon days of Champions League semi-finals are a distant memory and the club is rebuilding from the depths of League One. False dawns have occurred since relegation from the Premiership but there is a solid look and feel about the team this term.
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The big teams enter the League Cup for the first time this evening, although those expecting to see some big name players are likely to be disappointed. For a number of seasons now, the cup has become synonymous with second-string line ups and half empty stadia. If nobody is taking the competition seriously anymore, is it worth continuing with it?
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Whilst most Premiership clubs still have four rounds of matches left to play, The Football League enters its final weekend with much still to be decided in all three divisions. The Football Blog takes a look at who will celebrating and who will be drowning their sorrows come the end of the weekend.
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