Owen Scores For United

Wayne Rooney came off the bench to head the winner as Manchester United retained the Carling Cup by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley. Replaced by Michael Owen in the starting line-up, Rooney came on for his injured team-mate before half-time and then guided home the winning goal 16 minutes from time. Villa had enjoyed a dream start when taking the lead on five minutes after James Milner coolly sent Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way from the penalty spot after Nemanja Vidic was fortunate not to be sent off for bringing down Gabriel Agbonlahor.

United were level less than 10 minutes later, though, when Dimitar Berbatov robbed Richard Dunne of possession and, while the Villa defender recovered to tackle the Bulgarian, the loose ball was swept home from just inside the box by Owen. But Owen failed to last the half as his injury jinx struck again and he was replaced by Rooney before United almost went into the break in front when Park Ji-sung’s shot thudded off the post and bounced clear off Carlos Cuellar.

Brad Friedel produced an excellent save from Michael Carrick early in the second period, but was beaten on 74 minutes when Antonio Valencia, after a slick one-two with Berbatov, stood a cross up for Rooney to guide a header beyond the Villa keeper’s reach. Rooney headed another Valencia cross against the base of the upright moments later and, though Emile Heskey’s header deflected on to the top of the crossbar, Villa were unable to prevent United from winning back-to-back cup competitions for the first time in the club’s history.

Villa’s flying start meant there was no chance of either side being allowed to turn this into the sterile affair many had predicted. At the time, Martin O’Neill questioned how Vidic avoided a card of any kind for his foul on Agbonlahor. As the contest wore on, and an increasing number of his own players ended up in Phil Dowd’s notebook, the criticism grew. If Agbonlahor had gone down when Vidic first grabbed his shirt, the card should have been red. Instead, the Villa striker admirably attempted to stay on his feet after outpacing the Serbian to reach Ashley Young’s lofted pass beyond the United defence.

In the end, it was too much. Vidic stuck out a leg and hauled Agbonlahor down. Milner kept his nerve, sending Kuszczak the wrong way to provide the contest with the start it craved. As tends to be the case when they fall behind, United’s response was an all-out attacking assault, which in turn provided Villa with space to counter. The mixture produced a thrilling spectacle, made all the more absorbing because Sir Alex Ferguson’s team levelled so quickly. So solid all season, it was just Dunne’s luck his blunder should come in Villa’s biggest game of the year.

The Irishman was robbed by Berbatov inside his own half, and though he made up the ground, in making his despairing tackle, Dunne only succeeded in rolling the ball into Owen’s path, offering the kind of instinctive first-time finish he has made a career out of. That Owen’s contribution – and Rooney’s exile – came to an end three minutes before the break was cause for regret, although the watching Fabio Capello has long since deduced those dodgy hamstrings cannot be trusted through another World Cup campaign.

Capello was probably also reaching the conclusion Stephen Warnock should be handed his problematic left-back berth against Egypt on Wednesday. But when Warnock slipped just before half-time, man-of-the-match Valencia galloped past him down the by-line, his cross eventually arriving at the feet of Park, who slammed it onto the inside of a post, where it rocketed across goal for Cuellar to hack clear. Friedel palmed away a magnificently constructed effort from Carrick after half-time, although Villa were United’s equals and could easily have levelled when Young sent a volley bouncing into the ground.

The decisive moment arrived on 74 minutes when Berbatov nonchalantly flicked Valencia’s pass back into the Ecuadorian’s path and he lifted up a cross for Rooney to loop a header into the net. Rooney almost made the game safe four minutes later, with Valencia again the provider as the England ace’s header came back off the post with Friedel beaten. Villa responded in kind, Vidic deflecting Heskey’s header onto his own bar and then Dunne nodded wide after steaming in to meet Stewart Downing’s cross at the far post.

But Villa were unable to force Kuszczak into another save and Valencia had a chance to kill off his team’s opponents when lashing wide in stoppage-time.

Tags: aston villa, carling cup, man utd, manchester united