Birmingham City Defeat Arsenal 2-1 in Carling Cup Final

Stephen Carr lifting the Carling Cup

Amid all the talk about Arsenal's trophy drought, the injuries of Walcott and Fabregas, and anything else regarding the Gunners, it seemed like the media forgot about Birmingham City. I heard statistics cited regarding how Arsenal would improve after winning the Carling Cup, almost as if they had already won it. It seemed that way at Wembley as well, Arsenal practically forgetting that they still had to defeat Alex McLeish's Birmingham.

Among all of the hype around Arsenal, Birmingham were extremely dangerous in the first minutes. Birmingham were denied a penalty in the second minute of the match when Lee Bowyer was expertly played through by Zigic, and Szczesny sliced through Bowyer's legs without getting near the ball. Yet instead of a penalty for Birmingham and a red for the Arsenal keeper, the linesman wrongly flagged for offside.

Birmingham eventually found the opener, with Zigic's header waking up Arsenal from their trophy-winning daydream. Szcesny left his line to punch the ball out of his box, challenging the tall figure of Zigic, but the Serbian got to the ball first, and flicked the ball past the Arsenal keeper and into Arsenal's empty net. An easy goal in the 28th minute, made easier thanks to Zigic's height. A smart decision by McLeish to start with the Serbian forward.

Martins tapping in the winner

Arsenal were unable to do much against Birmingham, left with fast counter-attacks led by Nasri and Wilshere. The Englishman thundered a shot onto the Birmingham crossbar, with Arshavin taking the rebound and crossing for Robin van Persie to lash a volley into the far corner of the goal. An instinctive goal from van Persie, his well placed volley left Foster rooted to the line. The goal raised Arsenal's spirits just a few minutes before halftime.

In the second half Foster made some excellent saves, stopping Nasri and Bendtner from scoring a goal. Down at the other end, disaster struck for Arsenal in the 89th minute when Szczesny and Koscielny combined in failure. A long ball came over which either the defender should have cleared, or the keeper should have scooped up, yet both Arsenal players were too hesitant in their movements. The ball bounced off of the keeper's knee right to substitute Obafemi Martins, who tapped into the open goal for probably the easiest goal of his career.

The Birmingham City players celebrating after the final whistle

Birmingham City held on for four long minutes of injury time, and when the final whistle blew the entire set of Birmingham players, staff, and fans went crazy. The club has won its first major trophy since 1963, and back then the League Cup was barely considered a major trophy. That's a 48 year drought which McLeish ended, is that how long Arsenal are going to have to wait before they win a trophy? What are your thoughts on the Carling Cup final?

Carling Cup: Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City dumped out

Liverpool's poor start to the season continued as they were sent crashing out of the Carling Cup by League Two side Northampton 4-2 on penalties in a night of shocks.

Nathan Eccleston shows his frustration after missing the penalty.

Abdul Osman scored the winning spot-kick after Nathan Eccleston missed his for Liverpool. Michael Jacobs looked to have sealed an historic win for Northampton in extra-time before David Ngog forced the match to penalties at 2-2. Milan Jovanovic's opener was cancelled out by Billy McKay as the sides were level after 90 minutes.

Shola Ameobi's last-gasp winner secured a surprise 4-3 win for Newcastle to send Chelsea crashing out as well. Nicolas Anelka's two late goals looked to have been enough to force extra-time at Stamford Bridge, but Ameobi's glancing header from Jonas Gutierrez's cross sealed an impressive win for the Magpies.

Chelsea looked set for a comfortable victory after Patrick van Aanholt scored his first senior goal after six minutes, but Nile Ranger, who was at fault for the opener, went some way to atone for his mistake when he equalised shortly before the half-hour mark. Just moments later Ryan Taylor's free-kick put the visitors ahead, and Ameobi scored his first to give Newcastle a 3-1 lead shortly after half-time.

To add insult to injury, Chelsea lost Salomon Kalou to a hamstring injury, and when Yossi Benayoun hobbled off, Chelsea had no option but to continue the match with ten men with Carlo Ancelotti having already employed all three of his substitutes. But two late goals from Anelka, including a casual penalty with three minutes remaining, set up a tense few minutes, but Ameobi wrapped up a memorable victory for Newcastle with his late winner.

Holders Manchester United were forced to come from behind to beat underdogs Scunthorpe 5-2. Josh Wright's long-range strike gave the home side a deserved lead, but it proved to be shortlived as Darron Gibson beat the offside trap to lob Joe Murphy from Chris Smalling's long ball just four minutes later.
After his role in United's opening goal, it was Smalling's turn to get on the scoresheet, netting his first senior United goal to put the visitors ahead.

Scunthorpe could have clawed their way back into the match when Kuszczak palmed Jonathan Forte's long-range effort away, but the ball bounced just in front of his right post before spinning wide.

Scunthorpe battled valiantly, but the gulf in class and fitness began to appear, and the game soon ran away from them with two goals from Michael Owen and one from Park Ji-Sung before Martyn Woolford's 90th-minute consolation.

Ashley Young scored two goals in three minutes as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park. Gael Givet gave Blackburn the lead after 34 minutes before Emile Heskey equalised on the hour mark. And Young's double 13 minutes from time secured victory for Gerard Houllier on his first game in charge of Villa.

West Brom also came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1. Jo's left-footed strike put the visitors ahead on 19 minutes, but two goals in quick succession from Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox sent Roberto Mancini's men crashing out.

Charles N'Zogbia's 90th-minute strike sealed a late 2-1 win for Wigan at home to Preston North End. Wigan looked to be heading out of the competition after Keith Treacy put the Championship side ahead after 23 minutes, but Jordi Gomez's 87th-minute equaliser looked to have been enough to force extra-time before N'Zogbia spared Roberto Martinez's men's blushes.

Carling Cup final - Aston Villa 1 - 2 Manchester United

 

Latest Romanian Football News and more information on this match

Wayne Rooney was the Carling Cup final head boy as Manchester United came from behind to retain a knockout competition for the first time with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.

After starting as a substitute, Rooney was only on the pitch because of an injury to Michael Owen, who had levelled James Milner's fourth-minute penalty.

He was not going to let that inconvenience stop him becoming the Wembley match-winner against Villa though and 16 minutes from time, Rooney got on the end of Antonio Valencia's cross and looped home yet another headed goal - his fifth in a row - to take his goal tally for the season to 28 and allow United to retain the trophy after a thrilling Wembley encounter Sir Alex Ferguson feared was not possible.

One of the more obvious reasons why Ferguson would choose to leave his best player out of such a showpiece occasion was the surface, which has been claggy every time the Red Devils have played at the rebuilt stadium.

Fearing a draining match, plus extra-time, then an England game and a Premier League trip to Wolves, when victory will take his side top, before that decisive meeting with AC Milan on March 10, Ferguson presumably felt this was an outing Rooney could do without.

Yet any worries about the pitch were groundless. And 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 Nemanja Vidic avoided a card of any kind for his foul on Gabriel 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 Tomasz 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 Ferguson's team levelled so quickly.

So solid all season, it was just Richard Dunne's luck his blunder should come in Villa's biggest game of the year. The Irishman was robbed by Dimitar Berbatov close to his own penalty area 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 Ji-sung, who slammed it onto the inside of a post, where it rocketed across goal for Carlos Cuellar to hack clear.

Friedel palmed away a magnificently constructed effort from Michael Carrick after half-time, although Villa were United's equals and could easily have levelled when Ashley Young sent a volley bouncing into the ground.

The problem for Villa was knowing Rooney lurked. After falling victim to him in midweek, Gianfranco Zola claimed England's superstar has the Midas touch. It is more a Boy's Own story he is writing at the moment and having looped home yet another header to put his side ahead, Rooney came agonisingly close to making it number six when he crashed another onto the woodwork.
Villa responded in kind, Vidic nudging Emile Heskey's header onto his own bar. But that would have spoiled the story.


A great comeback from Manchester United! 
 They fully deserve the trophy! :)

Major League Wrap Up: Inter Crush Milan and Rooney Puts Four Past Hull

With so much football action these past weeks, what used to be just a weekend of football became more than a great match a day thanks to the FA Cup, Carling Cup, Copa Del Rey, Coppa Italia, and all the missed matches due to the bad weather. Good thing the SWU crew is here to wrap it all up for you in a tasty meal of footy action.

Inter Milan - AC Milan

What seemed to be AC Milan's perfect chance to reopen the title race in Italy turned out to be a nightmare for the rossoneri, right at the beginning Sneijder flicks the ball up and from 25 yards out blasts a venomous volley that shaves the post. Soon after, a great lift over the Milan back line by Pandev provided Diego Milito the perfect chance which he put a away with a great diagonal. Sneijder also had a great chance to double the lead but was stopped by Dida in the six yard box, the dutchman would not stay on for long, when Lucio was yellow carded for simulation, Wesley Sneijder applauded the referee sarcastically and was subsequently send off with a straight red. The ten-man Inter squad held on well to Milan who seemed to be imprecise and without confidence until the end of the first half. In the second half, a very strange story to tell, what should've been Milan's time to shine turned out to be Inter's greatest moments, although Borriello had some great chances thanks to fantastic crosses by Beckham, Julio Cesar was rock solid and stopped everything towards the Inter goal. Mourinho decided to keep the two strikers and was rewarded with great play from both of them, Pandev and Milito tracked back to help the squad defend, and were deadly on the counter attack, with multiple opportunity's created which weren't put away. When Pandev and Milito combined to get Pandev on a 1v1 with Dida, the Macedonian chipped it beautifully over the keeper only to see it hit the inside of the post. But a minute later, Maicon is brought down, and Pandev scores a brilliant free kick to put Inter out of Milan's sight. At the end of the match, Lucio was sent off for accumulation of yellow cards, but the neroazzurri dominated Milan, even when they were two men down, keeping Mourinho's home undefeated streak intact.
Final Score 2-0

Manchester United - Hull City


This was a solitary match in the premiership, and with the recent debt that has been revealed about the United owners, the red devils needed a win to go top of the table. What can only be described as a simple game, in the beginning minutes of the match, a shot by Scholes was parried by Myhill but Rooney was there for the followup. With a great start, the next goal would come much later in the match, in the 82nd Rooney rocketed a shot past Myhill, about four minutes later, a delicious ball by Nani is headed in by Rooney at close range, and finally in extra time, Rooney between two defenders squeezes a shot that completes his poker and puts United on top of the table.
Final score 4-0

In Italy, Spain, and Germany, it seems that Ferrara is hanging onto his job only because there is no replacement in line, after a 2-1 loss to Roma, Ranieri proved a point to his old team, they are too weak. With a dramatic late winner by John Arne Riise in stoppage time, Roma glide into third position, only two points away from AC Milan who have a match against Fiorentina they need to make up.

In La Liga, Barcelona demolish Real Valladolid 3-0 thanks to a fantastic Xavi and a wild Dani Alves, Xavi scored a half bicycle kick half volley, and Dani Alves blasted one in from the wing. Messi completed with a third thanks to a great pass by Ibrahimovic. Meanwhile Real Madrid are a one man team, from scoring goals to committing fouls, Cristiano Ronaldo did it all against Malaga, with a tap in and then a fantastic rocket which went into the top corner, in two minutes Real had the game wrapped up. But in the second half, Ronaldo was sent off for whacking a player with his hand viciously while dribbling, from hero to zero, Madrid hang on to be 5 points away from the Catalan giants.

The Bundesliga had a crucial match  between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen, the match ended 3-2 for Bayern thanks to Muller, Olic, and Robben, but Leverkusen stay on top after a 3-0 victory over Hoffenheim with even ex-Liverpool defender, Hyppia, scoring. But what continues to be the revelation of the season is Felix Magath's Schalke who drew 2-2 with Bochum, putting them firmly in third, two points behind Bayerm

In the FA Cup, Leeds were able to keep a woeful Tottenham side to a 2-2 draw, Tottenham also lost to Liverpool 2-0 in the Premier League, putting doubts over whether they can really challenge for the fourth spot. Manchester City defeated Scunthorpe United 4-2 with a goal from the unhappy Robinho who seems to have already signed a deal that will take him to his old Brazilian club Santos soon. Stoke City defeated Arsenal 3-1, knocking the gunners out of the competition, and Everton lost to Birmingham City 2-1, putting all of Merseyside out of the historic trophy. Chelsea had no trouble defeating Preston North End 2-0, Portsmouth got past Sunderland 2-1, and West Bromwich Albion were able to defeat Newcastle 4-2, in a fantastic game of football


In the Carling Cup, Manchester City pull off a win against Manchester United at Eastlands, with the great ex, Tevez scoring both goals, while Villa get through to the final after an epic match against Blackburn which ended 6-4 for Villa. With only the second leg of the semifinal between both sides of Manchester left until the final, Tevez will be looking to make an impact against his former side at Old Trafford.

Gianfranco Zola shocked by fan hooliganism at West Ham vs Millwall

Gianfranco Zola stated that he was shocked by the fan violence at the Carling Cup game between West Ham and Millwall, the two clubs are long time rivals and much hooliganism is in the form of gangs.

West Ham won the game 3-1 in extra time, first Harris scored for Millwall in the 26th minute, then West Ham equalized in the 87th with Stanislas to take the two London teams into extra time. In the 98th Stanislas scored again from the penalty spot and Hines finished it off in the 100th minute