The Final has been decided – Aston Villa next to try Man City for the EFL Cup
Thank you Aston Villa for keeping things exciting in the Carabao Cup competition. City completes the treble of finals after beating United in the Manchester derby.
Funny enough, the Carabao Cup was a lot of the same, even though we led to believe Aston Villa caused a major upset when they knocked Leicester City out of silverware contention.
In the more prominent region of England, the Manchester heavyweights didn’t disappoint with a great return encounter at the Etihad Stadium. Ironically, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer beat Pep Guardiola side for the second time this month, but sadly to no avail and no progression through to the final match.
Aston Villa a thorn in Rodgers’ side
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Villa’s win over the deadly Foxes proved once more that Brendan Rodgers has a long way to go before they can compete on all fronts. They also confirmed once again to be the thorn in Rodgers’ side when it comes to cup games. The duo’s semi-final meeting was the best semi of this year’s tournament.
Two goals, one a split for both in the first leg set up quite the intriguing affair for the next leg. Walking onto the pitch before kickoff, there was no certain victor. The only thing certain, the Villains had the Foxes chases them for the majority of the two ties.
Leicester caught up with them and it seemed we were heading for another Leicester shootout, but one final blow too late to recover from giving the hosts on the night the result to march into the final fixture of the EFL Cup.
Manchester Derby
United had the old case of the hero turned villain in 90 minutes of football. Nemanja Matic scored a thumper to give Ole hope they could still knock the Carabao champs out of the tournament.
Later in the game, he was sent early to the showers and made it tricky for them to overturn the inevitable outcome. United’s 2019-20 slump continues, even with the lift of imminent incoming, Bruno Fernandes.
Pep’s men have nothing to be proud about in the second fixture. Some out of control decisions in front of goal plus losing to their neighbouring rivals were not good enough for Pep. Thankfully for them, they did more than enough in the first encounter to keep any comeback away from United.
The EFL Cup Final – Aston Villa vs. Man City
Pep Guardiola and Man City are only the second club to reach three consecutive EFL Cup finals. They have now won it twice, back-to-back, and three times altogether under Pep. Their success in the cup has seen them win it six times prior to this final.
Only Liverpool have won it more times (8) than City. But they are closing in fast on the Reds’ record. This will also be Pep’s fourth different challenger. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all failed in their attempts to prevent the Citizens from being reigning champs.
West Ham doubles up in the January window. dark. Next
They now look to Aston Villa to do the job. Judging by the way they’ve rallied their way through to this definitive stage, they could cause a major upset coming March 1, which is when the event will take place at the famous Wembley Stadium.