Man City into another League Cup final
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MANCHESTER: Another English League Cup final for Manchester City. Another semifinal loss for Manchester United.
City beat fierce rival United 20 yesterday, thanks to secondhalf goals by John Stones and Fernandinho, to set up a meeting with Tottenham Hotspur in the final at Wembley Stadium on April 25.
For City manager Pep Guardiola, that means another headtohead battle with longtime coaching adversary Jose Mourinho, who is aiming to end Spurs' 13year trophy drought. City has no such issues.
It is one win away from a fourth straight title — and a sixth in eight seasons — in a cup competition which it has virtually made its own.
‘‘We achieved something incredible,’’ Guardiola said.
‘‘I know the [League] Cup is not the Champions League, but four times in a row reaching the final is impressive.’’
An open, endtoend match at Old Trafford, which started with three goals being disallowed for offside in the opening 24 minutes, was settled by goals from setpieces.
Stones bundled the ball into the net off his waist from an inswinging free kick by Phil Foden in the 50th minute before 35yearold Brazilian Fernandinho secured the win with a volley from the edge of the area.
City repeated its win over United in last season’s lastfour clash, which was played over two legs in contrast to this year’s onematch shootout.
That was one of three semifinal defeats for United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team in 2020, along with the FA Cup and Europa League.
‘‘We played against a very good Man City team. . . And when they play well you have to play really well to beat them and that's just the reality of where we are at,’’ Solskjaer said.
‘‘We're getting closer.
‘‘This is a much better version of Man United compared to a year ago.
‘‘That’s positive, but it’s not enough.''
After starting the season slowly, City is hitting top form, with this win over United coming three days after a 31 victory at Chelsea in the league and a 41 triumph at Arsenal in the cup just before Christmas.
It has conceded just three goals in its past 12 games in all competitions.
‘‘It’s about the consistency,’’ Guardiola said.
‘‘We didn’t have a proper preseason and that’s why we need a little bit of time but I think we are already there.''
City’s players wore retro No 8 jerseys ahead of the game in honour of Colin Bell, the club’s midfield great who died this week aged 74.
There was a minute’s silence and both teams wore black armbands in a tribute to the former England international.
‘‘I think how we played today was a reflection of him,’’ Stones said, referring to Bell.
‘‘A great moment for us and hopefully he is looking down on us.’’ — AAP