Man Utd Dumped Out Of Carling Cup

Not a good night for Alex Ferguson and Manchester United as Iain Dowie’s Coventry City gave Utd the Blues at Old Trafford with a 0 - 2 win to the Championship side. Coventry hadn’t won at Old Trafford since 1989 and it was the first time Alex Ferguson had been beaten by a lower league team in a cup competition since he took charge at Utd way back in 1986!

However, Man Utd were not the only Premiership casualty to fall to lower league opposition as Aston Villa were also dumped out of the Carling Cup after suffering a shock home defeat to Championship side Leicester. Slightly ironic for Martin O’Neil considering he managed Leicester for many years and didn’t he win the Carling Cup (or whatever it was called with Leicester? I think he did!)

Coventry certainly deserved the victory. They were equal to Utd in all departments. Yes, Man Utd had made 11 changes from the team that beat Chelsea at the weekend however Ferguson will still be very disappointed to have seen his side succumb to two Michael Mifsud goals. After all, if the players he picked are good enough to wear the shirt surely they should be good enough to put on a better performance.

Maltese striker Michael Mifsud celebrates his brace at Old Trafford

However, the goalscorer, Mifsud, a Maltese striker, was a constant thorn in the side of United’s reformed defensive unit and the Malteaser (sorry couldn’t resist!) fired Coventry ahead midway through the first half when he slid home after an excellent cross from Michael Doyle. His second goal which clinched a memorable victory for Coventry was a quite sublime finish. The ball fell to him just inside the box and he fired into the far corner - leaving Utd’s keeper on the night Tomasz Kuszczak helpless and sending the 11,000 visiting Coventry fans into absolute raptures. You can’t really blame them can you? However, I doubt Sir Alex was in raptures after the game. Don’t be fooled! He may have put out a completely different team but he would have expected them to win all the same. The Scot does not like losing and gone are the days of fielding second string teams in this so called Mickey Mouse cup.

Anyway, as I said, Utd weren’t the only top flight side to fall to the gremlims of the lower leagues. Aston Villa also bowed out to Leicester, again from the Championship. The only goal of the game in the Second City arrived just 14 minutes from time. The ball came for Matty Fryatt and he finished with a neat left footed strike across Stuart Taylor.

The current holder Chelsea had no such problems with their potential banana skin at Hull with a comfortable 4 - 0 victory to record the club’s first win for Avram Grant in the post Jose Mourinho era.

Grant said after the game, (god, he’s boring compared to Jose), “It could have been better, it could have been 5 - 0. [I think that was supposed to be a joke.] I was happy with the performance of the players. These kind of games you make one mistake and you are out. All the goals came from combinations and that;s what I want from the team…they all enjoyed it, including me.” Steady now, don’t get too carried away!

There were more potential upsets on paper but Everton avoided their blushes as they sealed a comfortable 3-0 win at Hillsborough to struggling Sheffield Wednesday. Scotland hero James McFadden, who is in excellent form at the moment, opened the scoring on the hour as he tapped in from close range after he was played in by Yakubu. McFadden then added a second not long after when he headed home after a nice cross from Phil Neville. Yakubu wrapped up the win with five minutes left with his second for his new club.

In the all Premiership clash at Ewood Park, Blackburn eased past rivals Birmingham with a 3-0 victory. And you have to say the result never looked in doubt. I have said in the Soccer Blog before that Mark Hughes is doing an excellent job at Blackburn and he has turned them into an extremely competitive side. Just like he was as a player really. No one will want to pick them out of the hat on Saturday in the next round, especially at Ewood Park.

Anyway, Blackburn’s opener came on 66 minutes and it was a spectacular strike from England’s David Bentley. He picked the ball up about 40 yards out and then rifled the ball home from 30 yards. Matt Derbyshire added a second from the penalty spot and Roque Santa Cruz scored a third in injury time to seal the win.

Middlesbrough kindly handed Tottenham manager Martin Jol a little more time thanks to a 2-0 victory at White Hart Lane in another all Premiership clash. Although Boro defended resolutely they were undone by Gareth Bale on 71 minutes as he sprung the offside trap before rounding Brad Jones and slotting home. Listen to Gareth Southgate’s interview after the game however and you’ll hear that he had a slightly different interpretation of whether it was offside or not. Spurs’ second came just moments later when Tom Huddlestone headed home after good work from Aaron Lennon down the right.

Ian Holloway’s and Plymouth hearts were broken at Upton Park as West Ham grabbed a last-minute winner to seal a 1-0 win. It looked like Holloway’s men were going to take the game to extra-time, when up popped in-form Dean Ashton to fire home a superb volley from a slightly acute angle. It was an excellent finish and deserved to win any game.

The only game that did head into extra-time on the night was the final all Premiership tie between two of this season’s strugglers as Fulham took on Bolton at Craven Cottage. Danny Guthrie had curled Bolton ahead, only for David Healy to come off the bench and level matters to send the game into added time. However, the winner came after 112 minutes when Stelios Giannakopoulos pounced to give his manager, Sammy Lee, a huge boost. Is Lee starting to turns things around at the Reebok? Hmm, only time will tell.

Full Results from last night’s Carling Cup 3rd Round Games:

Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester
Blackburn 3-0 Birmingham
Fulham 1-2 Bolton
Hull City 0-4 Chelsea
Man Utd 0-2 Coventry
Sheffield Weds 0-3 Everton
Tottenham 2-0 Middlesbrough
West Ham 1-0 Plymouth

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Many thanks
Rik