Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can redeem themselves

Familiar territory for Manchester United as they reach the Carabao Cup semi-final for the second time in a row following a victory over Everton.

A match built on revenge for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he welcomes his city rivals, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, to Old Trafford for the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals.

A 2-0 victory over Ancelotti’s Everton confirms the Reds Devils’ spot as they continue their good form on the road. Goodison Park was host to a well-contested match. So well contested, It was deadlocked for the vast majority of the game with the visitors scoring the first goal in the 88th minute.

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It was almost certain we were heading for a quarter-final penalty shootout but Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial made sure the game went no further than 90 minutes.

A wonder strike by Cavani, who let’s face it, should have been a lot more clinical in front of goal. He could have easily had a hat-trick or fourfold of goals if he had finished all/most of his chances.

Nonetheless, his superb quality was a great watch as we got to see him score his fourth goal for the club and it looks like there is a lot more to come from the veteran striker.

Martial, who was introduced in the 74th minute of the game for Mason Greenwood, added the final blow for Everton in the last few seconds of injury time. There was no coming back from this for the Toffees, who now have to look in other avenues for some silverware this term.

A Manchester derby is also a revenge match

We’ve already witnessed one Manchester meeting this season. A stalemate at Old Trafford and points shared was the best show the duo could conjure up at the start of December.

The Red Devils have done surprisingly well this season and find themselves ahead of their successful neighbours in the Premier League standings.

Ole has his club in third place on 26 points while Pep’s team sits eighth on 23 points. Both clubs have a game in hand. Now they meet for a game that saw Solskjaer lose and Guardiola win in their last Carabao showdown.

"Manchester United will welcome Manchester City to Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup semi-finals while Championship Brentford travel to Tottenham."

Far from boring, the two legs gave us a lot of action and memorable moments. Over the two meetings, there were five goals scored between the pair. Man City hitting four of the five to push them over the line to reach the final where they eventually went on to win it.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold” will be all that is on Ole’s mind from now until then. He will want to do the fans right this time around by giving them something to celebrate. It has been a while since they’ve gone all the way.

"The Manchester clubs have won the last five finals between them, with United’s 3-2 win over Southampton in 2017 interrupting a run of City dominance.City knocked their local rivals out at the semi-final stage last season and United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “It is the worst game to lose probably, a semi-final. (Via: Sky Sports)"

The last they’ve been to a final is when they played under the guidance of Jose Mourinho – where they beat Southampton 3-2 back in 2017.

Still, a chance for both managers to get four trophies. With Spurs playing in an all-London semi-final against Championship side Brentford, we could see another grudge match in the final if the top-flight club beats the lower-tier team.

Jose, who comprehensively hammered his old side 6-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign, can lay the smackdown on them if it is to be a United-Spurs final.