Substitute Wayne Rooney made the decisive contribution in the Carling Cup final with a late winner as Manchester United beat Aston Villa at Wembley. Rooney entered the action just before half-time to replace the injured Michael Owen and enabled Sir Alex Ferguson's side to come from behind and retain the trophy. Aston Villa's Wembley showpiece started perfectly when James Milner put them ahead from the spot after five minutes following Nemanja Vidic's foul on Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa clearly felt referee Phil Dowd should have sent Vidic off after he hauled down Agbonlahor as he closed in on goal - and their burning sense of injustice was fuelled even further when United quickly restored equality. Richard Dunne lost possession to Dimitar Berbatov, and when he attempted to repair his error he could only find Owen, who slipped a perfect finish past Villa keeper Brad Friedel. Owen looked sharp in front of watching England coach Fabio Capello, but his lingering hopes of persuading the Italian to include him in his World Cup plans for South Africa may have ended when he pulled up as he ran into the area and was forced to leave the action. (BBC Sport)Monday, 1 March 2010
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Man Utd
Substitute Wayne Rooney made the decisive contribution in the Carling Cup final with a late winner as Manchester United beat Aston Villa at Wembley. Rooney entered the action just before half-time to replace the injured Michael Owen and enabled Sir Alex Ferguson's side to come from behind and retain the trophy. Aston Villa's Wembley showpiece started perfectly when James Milner put them ahead from the spot after five minutes following Nemanja Vidic's foul on Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa clearly felt referee Phil Dowd should have sent Vidic off after he hauled down Agbonlahor as he closed in on goal - and their burning sense of injustice was fuelled even further when United quickly restored equality. Richard Dunne lost possession to Dimitar Berbatov, and when he attempted to repair his error he could only find Owen, who slipped a perfect finish past Villa keeper Brad Friedel. Owen looked sharp in front of watching England coach Fabio Capello, but his lingering hopes of persuading the Italian to include him in his World Cup plans for South Africa may have ended when he pulled up as he ran into the area and was forced to leave the action. (BBC Sport)