Football: Rooney the Difference as Man Utd Lift 2010 Carling Cup

The introduction of Wayne Rooney led to the winning goal which gave Manchester United the 2010 Carling Cup in this afternoon’s final which took place at a packed Wembley against Premier League Aston Villa. United won 2-1 having trailed 1-0 to a James Milner 6th minute penalty.

The pace of Agbonlahor led to Aston Villa’s early penalty as he sprinted round Nemanja Vidic. The mis-timed tackle from behind the big Serbian produced led to a simple decision for referee Phil Dowd.

James Milner slotted the penalty cooly into the bottom corner, leaving Kuszczak in the United goal little chance to make the save.

Michael Owen soon restored parity, however, in the twelth minute after Dimitar berbatov, his strike partner, tee’d him up with a lovely pass folllowing a mistake from richard Dunne.

Following this, the sides cancelled each other out largely, until the introduction of Wayne Rooney, on for Michael Owen at the end of the first half, led to more drive up front for the English Champions. Rooney scored with a header into the top corner on 75 minutes, before hitting the foot of the post with another header to clinch a dream final for the substitute.

Despite some late pressure, Martin O’Neill’s Aston villa side were unable to get back on level terms – with a headed opportunity and chance to make amends falling to Richard Dunne in the final minutes ending with a tame effort from within six yards.

Manchester United will hope this cup win is the first of three – they are one point from the summit of the Barclays Premier League, and carry a lead into the second leg of the UEFA Champion’s League last 16 match against Milan.

Related Stories from the Past Month:

• Football: FA Community Shield 2010 Highlights & Match Review, Chelsea 1 – 3 Manchester United
• Football: Barclays Premier League Opening Weekend Fixtures, August 2010
• Football: Martin O’Neill Quits Aston Villa
• Athletics: Tyson Gay Defeats Usain Bolt in Stockholm
• HMAS Tobruk Arrives in Papua New Guinea

Posted by Robin Scott on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:27:00. Click Here to Subscribe to Robin Scott by RSS. Filed under Carling Cup, Football, Picture Gallery, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry