It wasn’t easy for either club tonight, but Manchester United is on it’s way to Wembley to face 2008 Carling Cup Champions Tottenham Hostpur on March 1st.
Via BBC
Injuries to Anderson, Rafael and Jonny Evans took the shine off Manchester United’s 4-3 aggregate win over Derby in their Carling Cup semi-final.
Derby manager Nigel Clough was also upbeat after his side’s late fightback that saw them put United under pressure after looking dead and buried at half-time.
The Rams held a 1-0 lead from the first leg but were 3-0 down inside 35 minutes at Old Trafford.
“If we’d got a second goal at home things could have been different,” said Clough. “But the first goal knocked the stuffing out of us and the defending for the second and third goals was disappointing.”
The Rams led 1-0 from the first leg but a fierce Nani strike levelled the tie and defensive errors let John O’Shea and Carlos Tevez put United in charge.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty seemed to have sealed United’s win but Barnes’ superb free-kick set up a tense finale that would end in United’s favor.
Tottenham – Burnley
Burnley had been two minutes away from reaching Wembley as they led on the away goals rule with them 3-0 up on the night and the aggregate score at 4-4.
Robbie Blake put the Clarets ahead on the night and Chris McCann made it 2-0.
However, it meant there was space at the back for Tottenham to exploit and they should have wrapped up the tie when Bale played in substitute Pavlyuchenko but he spooned the ball wide from close-range.
It was a miss that was to prove costly as Burnley made it 3-0 and forced extra-time when Rodriguez slammed in after Alnwick had dropped Blake’s free-kick.
Yet there was to be another twist in the tale of a match that will be talked about for decades.
As the Burnley players’ legs tired, Assou-Ekotto pulled the ball back to Pavlyuchenko, who smashed the ball in to put Spurs ahead on aggregate – and keep up his record of scoring in every round of the competition.
Burnley’s misery was compounded when Defoe beat his marker and bent in a shot from the edge of the penalty area to seal Tottenham’s date with Manchester United at WembleyImage via Farm3
