Sunderland Shock Manchester United, Face City in Final

 2-2(pen.)

The second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal between Manchester United and Sunderland took place today at Old Trafford.  Sunderland came into the match with a 2-1 lead having beaten United in the first match of the semifinal.  Manchester City already won the other spot in the final beating West Ham United 9-0 over their two semifinal matches.

Manchester United found a groove late in the first-half and scored on a set-piece.  Danny Welbeck was able to get a flick on a corner-kick to setup defender Jonny Evans.  Crashing the back-post, Evans finished with a header to level the aggregate score (37').  

The second-half of the match was played out with either side taking the lead and extra-time was therefore required.  Away-goals were not a factor in regulation, but now in extra-time, United's away goal in the first match gave them the lead.  Sunderland therefore had to score to keep their hopes alive.

No goals were scored in the first-half of extra-time, but in the last moments of the second-half two miracles occurred.  First Sunderland scored the goal they needed when defender Phillip Bardsley's shot ended up in the net.  Bardsley found a window to shoot and sent a weak rolling shot towards goal.  Keeper De Gea had the shot covered, but was not sure-handed and let the ball slip out of his grasp and into his goal (119').  

The late goal by Sunderland seemed like a death-blow to United and the fans started heading for the exits.  However they came running back to their seats when Hernandez saved them from defeat seconds later.  Januzaj played a ball across the face of goal and Hernandez was at the back-post to smash it home (120 +1').  

The late equalizer gave United a chance to win in a penalty shootout, no one more thankful than keeper De Gea.  Unfortunately for United the two hour match had taken its toll and their finishing from the spot was quite bad.  Januzaj and Rafael had their shots saved and Welbeck and Jones missed the target completely.  Sunderland only scored two of their penalty kicks, but it was enough to advance to the final.

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium on March 2nd.  It won't be an all Manchester final, but Manchester City are the easy favorites to win that match-up.  Anything can happen of course and Sunderland have shown serious resilience in their run to the final.

Eto'o Hat-Trick Lift Chelsea Over United

 3-1 

Chelsea looked to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City, who both won matches yesterday, in their match today against Manchester United.  No Rooney or Van Persie for United who remain out injured giving Welbeck the start up front.  For Chelsea it was Samuel Eto'o who started at striker and made the biggest impact in the match.

Eto'o scored two goals in the first-half to give Chelsea the edge.  The first goal came when a left-footed shot from Eto'o took a favorable deflection off Michael Carrick.  The United midfielder was in good position to block the shot, but Carrick only got a piece of it and the ball was sent to the upper-ninety for Chelsea's first goal (17').

Eto'o scored a second goal following a corner-kick.  United defender the initial service, but Chelsea reclaimed possession and defender Gary Cahill found himself in a good position.  Cahill was able to work a cross into the box for Eto'o who scored first-touch moments before half-time (45').

Shortly after half-time Eto'o completed the hat-trick when Cahill again got involved on a corner-kick.  Cahill won a header at the near-post and United keeper De Gea managed to make the save.  He could not control the save though, and Eto'o was waiting just a yard away from goal for an easy finish (49').

Manchester United added striker Hernandez to play along side Welbeck and the young Mexican got a goal for the Red Devils late in the match.  Welbeck found Phil Jones in the box and Jones had a go at goal.  His shot may have been curling wide, but Hernandez was crashing the far-post and steered the ball into the net (78').

The one goal was all United could muster and their situation going forward was made worse when a challenge from captain Vidic earned him a red card in stoppage-time.  Vidic came in with both feet on a tackle to Eden Hazard and was immediately sent off.  Fullback Rafeal was lucky to not be shown a red card when he also made a two-footed tackle on Cahill.  He only saw a yellow card for his offense, but the match was essentially over at that point.

United probably have no realistic chance at defending their title with the current state of the club.  Injuries and general poor defense are holding back last season's champions who struggle to find that top form.  Chelsea are the real contenders with Arsenal and Manchester City just ahead in the table.  Next for Chelsea is an FA Cup match against Stoke City, while United get Sunderland in the Capital One Cup.

Manchester United Top Liverpool in Cup Play

1-0

The first big match-up in the 2013-14 Football League Cup, or Capital One Cup, came today with Manchester United hosting Liverpool.  In the third round match Manchester United elected to start Hernandez at striker who hasn't seen much action this season playing behind Van Persie.  Luis Suarez hasn't seen much action lately either, but with his suspension complete Liverpool welcomed him back into the starting line-up.

United had the hot start today with Rooney and Kagawa looking spry at Old Trafford.  Liverpool survived the early barrage though and got Sturridge and Suarez involved.  By half-time no goals were scored, but the match was wide open.

Manchester started the second-half better than the first and quickly scored from a set-piece.  Rooney delivered the corner into the box that Hernandez finished.  The Mexican striker attacked the service at the near-post and turned the shot into Liverpool's net (46').

Liverpool managed a few good shots after conceding the goal, but Rooney and United were able to keep up the attack and keep Liverpool's defense busy.  No other goals were scored and United move to the next round.

More Misery for Mexico, Lose to Italy

1-2

Mexico and Italy squared off in Rio De Janeiro today in their first matches of the 2013 Confederations Cup.  Italy got off to a better start and were first on the board thanks to a perfect freekick by the veteran Pirlo.  From about twenty-five yards out, Pirlo was able to lift the shot over the wall and get the ball to dip back down, upper 90º (27').

The lead was short lived as Italy conceded a penalty when defender Barzagli fouled Mexico's Dos Santos in the box.  Hernandez then finished form the spot to level the score (34').  Aside from scoring the penalty though, Hernandez was quite ineffective today and had only one other shot on target.  Dos Santos and Guardado were more involved throughout, but the Italian defense was too strong and shut down Mexico's attack for the remainder of the match.

The match was there for Italy's taking, and late in the second-half Mario Balotelli delivered the game-winning goal.  Giaccherini was able to flick a ball into the path of the striker and Balotelli powered through defender Rodriguez to get the shot away (78').  Not surprisingly Balotelli earned a yellow card for his celebration (taking his shirt off) but he was quickly substituted to make sure he was unable to see another card.