ALEX FERGUSON tucked the 32nd major trophy of his Manchester United reign under his arm and then admitted his team were fortunate not to have had a man sent off in yesterday’s the League Cup final.
Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score the winning header, his 28th goal of the season, as United beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley.
But controversy surrounded a penalty awarded to Villa in the fourth minute when United defender Nemanja Vidic brought down Gabriel Agbonlahor.
James Milner scored from the spot but referee Phil Dowd failed to give Vidic even a yellow card, even though he was the last defender and Agbonlahor was through on goal.
But while Ferguson said Vidic “was probably lucky”, Villa manager Martin O’Neill was left fuming. O’Neill said: “It was plain for all to see. It was an inexplicable decision. I don’t understand it. It’s a goalscoring opportunity. He’s felled in the penalty area. It’s straightforward from an otherwise fine referee who has got it wrong. It’s as simple as that.
“In a couple of days it’s forgotten. We’re losing finalists in a fine game of football, but it’s a major point in the game.
“We played some really great football, some great performances. But you can’t keep a team like Manchester United at bay all the time and they came roaring back in the second half.”
In fact, United were level after 13 minutes, Michael Owen sweeping home the equaliser after Dimitar Berbatov and Richard Dunne had tangled in the area. Unfortunately, Owen’s final was shortlived, however, after he suffered a hamstring injury and was replaced by Rooney after 41 minutes.
Ferguson said: “He (Owen) did really well for us and it was a good performance from him. It’s maybe our fault too. He’s not had a lot of minutes recently and that soft pitch didn’t help him. It’s a bad blow for us.”
Owen’s misfortune only gave Rooney the chance to write another chapter in what is becoming a stupendous season.
His 74th-minute header from Antonio Valencia’s cross was his fifth consecutive headed goal. In fact, seven out of his last eight goals have been headers. Quite a statistic considering he had scored only four headed goals in his career before this season.
