City seek mental strength at Crystal Palace
KINGSTONUPONHULL:Manchester United survived a scare to reach the League Cup final after Oumar Niasse’s late goal earned Hull City a 2-1 victory in Thursday’s semifinal second leg.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg, United saw their advantage at an ice-cold KCOM Stadium halved by Tom Huddlestone’s 35th-minute penalty and then restored by Paul Pogba’s second-half strike.
Niasse’s goal set up a nervy finish for Jose Mourinho’s men, but they survived to complete a 3-2 aggregate win that sets up a date with Southampton in the final at Wembley on February 26.
“I just want to say congratulations to my players,” said Mourinho. “It was a difficult road to be in the final and we are in the final.”
It will be United’s first League Cup final since 2010 — when they beat Aston Villa 2-1 — and with Southampton having cleared Liverpool from their path, they will go into the game as favourites.
Mourinho tried to claim that his team’s unbeaten record remained intact despite their defeat at Hull.
It was United’s first loss in 18 matches, but having disagreed with the decision that led to Huddlestone putting Hull ahead from the penalty spot, Mourinho claimed the outcome had been invalid.
“We didn’t lose. It was 1-1. I only saw two goals,” Mourinho claimed.
“I saw (Paul) Pogba’s goal and their (second) goal was a fantastic goal. Great action, great cross and the guy in the far post coming. 1-1.”
Huddlestone put Hull in front after Marcos Rojo was adjudged by referee Jon Moss to have tugged Harry Maguire’s shirt.
Mourinho refused to divulge his thoughts on the penalty, but suggested United’s control of the tie had been unfairly taken away by Moss.
Manchester City supporters must once again wait to see which version of Pep Guardiola’s team shows up in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round game at Crystal Palace.
City have won by four goals or more on five separate occasions, but have also fallen to two 4-0 defeats — at Barcelona and more recently Everton — and been beaten five times in the league.
Faced with the team’s wildly oscillating form, underpressure goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has told his teammates: “We must be mentally strong.
“We must keep working hard, keep believing in what we’re doing. It’s the only recipe.
“It’s not a good feeling looking at how things developed (against Tottenham).
“We had everything to win the game, but it’s the same old story: we had trouble creating chances and the other team, with less options, get the goals.” City’s new signing Gabriel Jesus is poised for his first start for the club on Saturday. Jesus enjoyed a lively cameo role when he came off the bench in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Manager Pep Guardiola will probably shuffle his squad against Palace and could unleash the young forward against Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened side.