Manchester United 2 Sunderland 1 (aet, agg 3-3, 1-2 on pens): Black Cats squeeze through to final after unbelievable finish

 

By Martin Samuel
It was, the neutrals agreed, quite the worst penalty shootout of recent memory. Some recalled the European Cup final in which Barcelona lost 2-0. There were half-time contests between sponsors that had showcased greater finishing skills.
And Sunderland? They couldn’t have cared less. Long after their heroes had left the Old Trafford pitch, the fans were dancing,  singing, celebrating — rituals that would go on long into the night.
They like a Nineties standard in that part of the world, counted in at the speed of a classic by the Ramones; 1-2-3-4 and everyone launched into a breakneck version of Things Can Only Get Better. Except things couldn’t. Not for Sunderland last night. For David Moyes and Manchester United it is hard to imagine how they can get worse. 

Job done: Adam Johnson and Craig Gardner celebrate in front of the travelling band of Sunderland fans

Through: Sunderland players celebrate after goalkeeper Vito Mannone saves the final penalty

Agony: Rafael misses the decisive penalty to send Sunderland through to the final at Wembley

See you at Wembley: Sunderland salute their 9,000 traveling supporters after the victory

Not our night: United players look on worried - they missed four of their five penalties on the night

The big day: Sunderland fans can now look forward to playing Manchester City at Wembley on March 2
Match facts

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Man Utd: De Gea 6, Rafael Da Silva 6, Smalling 6, Evans 6, Buttner 7 (Evra 85 6), Fletcher 7, Carrick 7 (Jones 95 6), Januzaj 7, Welbeck 6, Kagawa 6 (Valencia 61 6), Hernandez 5.
Subs Not Used: Giggs, Lindegaard, Young, Cleverley.
Booked: Jones, Januzaj.
Goals: Evans 37, Hernandez 120+1.
Sunderland: Mannone 7, Bardsley 6, O'Shea 6, Brown 7, Alonso 7, Cattermole 7 (Gardner 82 7), Johnson 7, Ki 7, Colback 6, Borini 6 (Altidore 86 4), Fletcher 5.
Subs Not Used: Ustari, Vergini, Larsson, Celustka, Giaccherini.
Booked: Borini, O'Shea, Gardner, Alonso.
Goals: Bardsley 119.
Agg (3-3) Sunderland win 2-1 on penalties
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
*Ratings by Colin Young at Old Trafford

One successful penalty. That is the statistic of the night. Manchester United had five shots at goal from 12 yards and missed four. That is a team not so much low on confidence, but in need of counselling.
Javier Hernandez, the striker on the night, did not put himself up for selection. His partner Danny  Welbeck did, and missed by miles. Adnan Januzaj, the rising star, planted one at Vito Mannone in the Sunderland goal, Phil Jones  followed Welbeck’s wayward line. Finally, Rafael stepped up to save the day. Sunderland had been no hotshots either, and led 2-1. Put it like this: when a Brazilian can’t find the net from that range, a manager’s luck truly is out, and Mannone saved, to his right.
And that was it. No first Wembley final for Moyes, no respite for  Manchester United, no hiding place for David de Gea, whose mistake sent the match into its lunatic last reel. In the circumstances, Gus Poyet’s team were excellent. They had the greater share of possession and although they lost in normal time 1-0, and in extra time 2-1, it was enough to move to the lottery of penalties. Anybody can win a shoot-out, although it seemed for a time that neither side were very keen.
For Sunderland, Craig Gardner, Steven Fletcher and Adam  Johnson missed, but Marcos Alonso and Ki Sung-yeung scored. For United, only Darren Fletcher found the target. As the horror unfolded, Moyes got farther and farther back from the action, almost taking shelter behind his assistants who stood in a line, shoulders sagging with each fresh humiliation.

Unbelievable: Hernandez scored in the 121st minute to put the game through to penalties

Last-gasp: Bardsley celebrates after scoring in the dying moments to seemingly put Sunderland through

Equaliser: Defender Jonny Evans scores the first goal in the 37th minute to put United level in the tie

Relief: United celebrate after the opening goal just before half-time

Gutted: David De Gea holds his head after his howler for Phil Bardsley's equaliser on the ngiht

PENALTY SHOOTOUT

Seven of the 10 penalties were missed at Old Trafford
Gardner miss 0-0
Welbeck miss 0-0
S Fletcher miss 0-0
D Fletcher scores 1-0
Alonso scores 1-1
Januzaj miss 1-1
Ki scores 1-2
Jones miss 1-2
Johnson miss 1-2
Rafael miss 1-2

And this is a new low for United, no matter the mediocre status of the Capital One Cup. At a club who measure success in title triumphs and conquests of Europe, the  Capital One Cup is no substitute. But for a manager whose season is crumbling with each passing week, it affords a tiny glimmer of hope. Jose Mourinho’s first trophy in England was the League Cup and he credits it with the inspiration for achievements of greater substance.
Now, Moyes has only the Champions League in his sights and, unable to defeat Sunderland over two legs, few will approach fixtures with the titans of Europe with great confidence — even if Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have returned.
Moyes stood on the touchline, so close to his first Wembley final with United he could almost touch it. Hands deep in his pockets, one moment on the edge of the technical area, the next retreating to the safety of the shadows, Moyes watched it all, grimly.
Yet as the clock ticked down, his side stumbled. 

Delighted: Evans wheels off after scoring against Sunderland, who he was on loan with between 2006-2008

Picked out: Alexander Buttner, on a rare start for United, controls the ball in mid-air in the second-half

Miscue: Januzaj drags a shot wide for United during a hit and miss second-half for the midfielder

Michael Carrick patrolled United's midfield superbly - Click here for more from our fantastic Match Zone service

Funny gesture: Rafael escapes Fabio Borini's challenge in the first-half at Old Trafford

Living on a prayer: Javier Hernandez prays before kick off alongside Michael Carrick and Danny Welbeck

LOOK OUT FOR THE ARCHES, NOT THE TWIN TOWERS!

The last time Sunderland played at Wembley was nearly 16 years ago in 1998, when they lost 7-6 on penalties to Charlton Athletic after a dramatic 4-4 draw in the Division One play-off final.
The last time they reached a domestic final was in 1992, a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup final to Liverpool.
And finally, the last time Sunderland won a domestic competition was in 1973 in the famous FA Cup final battle with Leeds United, winning 1-0 thanks to an Ian Porterfield goal and a magnificent performance from goalkeeper Jim Montgomery.

The last two minutes of normal time were simply incredible. Manchester United out and then redeemed in a matter of seconds. One hundred and eighteen minutes had elapsed when De Gea mishandled a Phil Bardsley shot, the ball squirming out of his hands and in at the far post. With the scores now tied 1-1, Sunderland were through.
But wait, there’s more. With United there’s always more. They went straight down the Sunderland end and through Januzaj, their best forward player on the night by some distance, fashioned another escape. His cross was met by Hernandez, criminally untroubled by Sunderland defenders, and he turned it into the net. Penalties it would be.
And by winning them, Sunderland bucked a competition trend. It has been a curse in this tournament of late, the 2-1 first-leg advantage. Only one of the last nine teams to have led by that margin after 90 minutes have progressed and, sure enough, after 37 minutes, Sunderland found themselves a goal down.
Januzaj took a corner from the right, which Welbeck dropped short to receive, turning the ball on in an ungainly fashion. Sunderland dozed, John O’Shea and Wes Brown in particular, and their former defensive team-mate Jonny Evans stole in at the far post to head the ball in, with Mannone stranded.

 

Absolute howler: De Gea fumbles Phil Bardsley's effort and looks on as the ball ends up in the back of the net

 

Fifty-fifty: Man United's Adnan Januzaj and Sunderland's Marcos Alonso grapple for the ball

Throaty: Marcos Alonso grabs hold of the tricky Adnan Januzaj who advances towards goal

Towards goal: Man United's Javier Hernandez tangles with Sunderland's Phil Bardsley, and ex-United player

It's mine: Sunderland's Adam Johnson holds off the challenge from Shinji Kagawa in the first half

Lofted: Brazilian defender Rafael vies with Fabio Borini, who scored the winner in the first leg

It was a fitting reward for Januzaj, who improves game by game. Every-thing that was good about United stemmed from his imagination and had Hernandez scored the golden one-on-one opportunity he created in extra time there would have been no need for late drama.
The best move of the night,  however, belonged to Sunderland. It came in the 19th minute, stunning in its simplicity yet wondrous in its execution. A succession of passes lengthy enough to be given the olé treatment by the away end was rounded off with a quite stunning long through-ball from Johnson, deep on the right flank. His pass fell, precisely, at the feet of Borini with such accuracy that it almost woke Rafael in the covering position. Borini ran on goal and shot early, the ball sitting up for a half-volley and dipping viciously just over the bar with De Gea helpless.
Had that gone in it would have been among the goals of the  season. Had that gone in, however, it might have sparked United into action. Instead they were content to play out time, to see out the slender win, to creep to Wembley where rivals Manchester City strode with nine goals against West Ham United. And that is the irony. When United were good enough to play the percentages, they chose a more cavalier path. Now they strive for safe passage — and they really haven’t a clue.

Closing in: Alexander Buttner of Manchester United passes the ball as Adam Johnson

Watchful eye: Sir Alex Ferguson takes his seat before the game at Old Trafford

OLD TRAFFORD MATCH ZONE BY COLIN YOUNG

A warm welcome for old boys
It was familiar surroundings for three of Sunderland’s back four. Wes Brown (below), John O’Shea and Phil Bardsley are all former Manchester United players who were warmly welcomed back to Old Trafford by fans and staff. And if there was little sign of celebration from Jonny Evans when he opened the scoring, perhaps that was due to the two successful loan spells he had at Sunderland in 2007 and 2008 under former United midfielder Roy Keane.

Lee's traditional touch
There is a great deal about Lee Cattermole’s game which is old school, such as the wild challenge on Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez at the weekend which earned another booking. But there is much to like about this uncompromising player too.Cattermole, rightly restored to the side after Paolo Di Canio prematurely wrote him off, was the only player among the starting 22 to wear black boots.

 

Fans from both sides joined together to take part in an emotional tribute  to 13-year-old United fan Levi Henson, who died on the eve of the game after losing his battle against cancer.
There was silence in Old Trafford as Levi’s father Tony Leight paid his own personal tribute to his ‘Red Devil’, who had recently recorded and launched a single Stronger, which was played at half-time.

 

Short's long game over De Fanti
Fresh from the sacking of director of football Roberto De Fanti last weekend, Sunderland owner Ellis Short was among the 9,000 Sunderland fans. The American billionaire, who has not been at every game this season, travelled up from his base in London so did not take up the offer to travel on one of the 150 free buses provided by his club. Short and chief executive Margaret Byrne are determined to bide their time before appointing De Fanti’s successor.

Sunderland went through against the odds on Wednesday night. United had played 12 League Cup semi-finals at Old Trafford, winning seven, drawing four and suffering only one defeat. Sunderland have only reached the League Cup final once, losing the ‘friendship final’ to Norwich City in 1985. Their last semi-final appearance resulted in defeat to eventual winners Leicester City in 1997 when they  were relegated from the Premier League.