UNITED TRASH WATFORD, ARSENAL IN CARLING CUP FINAL!

 

 

The last time Watford were in the Premiership, I was doing my A Levels. It was the 1999/2000 season and the Hornets didn't last very long. They were always one of the dead men walking that season and United certainly did our part in sending them on their way. First we beat them 4-1 at Old Trafford with Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Dennis Irwin scoring the goals. Then we went to Vicarage Road with Jordi Cryuff hitting the net in a 3-2 win.

Already this season, we've beaten the Hornets at Vicarage Road, and Watford don't look like they're going to last much longer than their predecessors. Fergie warned before the match that "someone's going to get a hiding" and Old Trafford's latest visitors looked like a reasonable bet. There were still enough changes made though, Heinze at left back, Ronaldo at right mid, Carrick and O'Shea in centre mid, Ricardson at left mid, Rooney and Solksjar up front.

United hammered the visitors right from the start, this was going to be our three points no matter what. The best Watford could do was concede a 12th minute penalty and Ronaldo hit the net from the spot. The only question from there on in was "how many?" but no more goals were forthcoming for a while and Chris Powell only failed to get an equaliser for Watford due to the United bar. The Watford gaffer couldn't have really complained about the situation at half time.

The second half was more of the same with United at least looking for the respect of a two goal win. It came from a slightly mad source though when a 61st minute Richardson cross got headed in by Watford defender Lloyd Doyley. Soksjaer then got replaced by Larsson at the result was the best 1-2 that I've seen for ages between Henrik and Rooney in the 70th minute, the Swede getting the goal. Followed in the 71st by Ronaldo lobbing the Watford defence to find Rooney who lobbed the goalie. From there on in United just cruised to our biggest win since October!

Elsewhere, Chelsea faced Blackburn at Stamford Bridge. Didier Drogba opened the scoring and the Blues always had the edge despite the odd chance for Mark Hughes's side. The Cocky One's crew strolled home though with goals from Frank Lampard and Soloman Kalou taking care of business. The Blues remain six points behind United at the top of the Premiership though and the clock must surely be starting to tick for Jose, though our upcoming trip to Spurs is still crucial.

Well Arsenal should have been happy with their efforts in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final with Spurs, they got out with an away goals edge. Which was at least an improvement on last year, when they started the home leg 1-0 down to Wigan. That tie finished 2-2 after extra time and Arsene Wenger's crew went out on away goals. This time out, Arsene was sticking with his reserves to see him though to Cardiff but Spurs did have 120 minutes available to turn things round.

Well the first half wasn't exactly the most eventful, though some blood got spilled early on. Spurs had the first real chance but didn't make much of it and Arsenal soon responded. Though Spurs certainly didn't look like they were going down without a fight though, they spent most of the half on the back foot. The fact that their defence was solid should only have provided limited comfort, they were never going to make the final playing like that.

Second half was more of the same. Arsenal had every attacking opportunity going but the Spurs still managed to hold out, seemingly playing for extra time. That plan went to cack in the 77th minute though when Tomas Rosicky set up Emmanual Adebayor to give the home side the lead and leave Spurs with a ticking clock to deal with. That turned out not to be a problem, as Mido headed in an 85th minute Jermaine Jenas free kick. Spurs had an attack spell late on though but couldn't get a winner. They still had extra time though.

The first half of extra time was sludgy as hell with both sides cautios as anything, Arsenal probably worried about the late Spurs resurgence, the visitors not wanting to do anything rash. If anything it was Arsenal who still had the edge and given their general domination of the game they were probably mad their rivals were still standing. At which point in the 105th minute Jermaine Aladiere took advantage of messy Spurs defending to give Arsenal the advantage again.

From there, the Spurs really crumbled despite having a decent shot of at least securing a penalty shoot out. That required them scoring a goal though at that certainly wasn't going to happen. Finally in the 113th minute Arsenal won the game after Pascal Chimbona put the ball in his own net. Then Spurs finally had something resembling an attacking spell to finish the game off, needing to now get two goals to win the tie. They couldn't manage it and Arsenal won 5-3 on aggregate.

So, the final will be Chelsea vs Arsenal at the Millenium Stadium. As things stand, Arsene Wenger is still planning to stick with his reserves. If he does so it'll be suicidal, the Cocky One is starting to sniff at any trophy he can possibly get and will almost certainly play a strong, if not his strongest XI. Arsenal's first team might well be able to live with that sort of lineup but it is surely a brudge too far for the reserves so I'm calling Chelsea as the winners of the 2007 Carling Cup.

North of the border, the CIS Insurance Cup semi finals were played, with both games on neutral ground. Kilmarnock beat Falkirk 3-0 and Fir Park to be the first side to book their place in the final and they were joined by Hibs who beat D1 St Johnstone 3-1 at Tynecastle. That leaves Hibs vs Kilmarnock in the final at Hampden Park and my thinking is that Hibs are going to win that one, allowing John Collins to claims his first trophy as a manager.

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