League Cup Final

Aston Villa-v-Manchester United, 28/02/10, K.O. 3pm

And so, to the first trophy of the season. And, within five minutes, to a refereeing controversy. Nemanja Vidic indulged in a bit of shirt-pulling in the box, Agbonlahor went down, and ref Phil Dowd awarded a penalty. All nice and straightforward so far - but should Vidic have been sent off? He was, after all, the last defender. But was Vidic denying Agbonlahor a clear goalscoring opportunity? Was it a professional foul? He'd already got in front of Agbonlahor, so it wasn't as if it was a malicious tackle from behind. And it was the fourth minute of a cup final. Personally, I think Phil Dowd made the right decision. Graham Poll said after the match that a referee in that situation will be looking for any excuse not to send the player off. Villa got their penalty and they got their goal - I don't think there was any need to send Vidic off as well. I was surprised that he didn't get a yellow card, mind you.

Apart from that, it was a good game - very open, very evenly matched, and United won it through a couple of moments of brilliance. You could say that the equaliser came about thanks to some poor defending from Villa, but Michael Owen was in exactly the right place at the right time to pounce and ping a shot past Friedel. It's a shame (although not entirely surprising given his track record) that Owen limped off with a hamstring problem, but fingers crossed he'll be fit again soon. And then there was Rooney. Apparently suffering from (depending on who you talk to) either flu symptoms, a sore knee or a bit of a stomach bug, it didn't matter - once he came on he was strong, he was all over the pitch and he scored yet another header - his ninth so far this season - to win the game for United. He's got to be the best player in the Premier League with the form he's in at the moment - I'm just praying nothing untoward happens before the World Cup!

Honourable mentions also go to Dimitar Berbatov (helping out in defence? Contributing vital crosses? Working hard? Seriously?) and Valencia, who deservedly got the Man of the Match award. Dishonourable mentions go to Mark Lawrenson, who once again spent 90 minutes talking a load of complete rubbish ('And that's a free kick for intent...' - no, Lawro, it isn't) and - bless him - the linesman who got his reds and whites mixed up in the second half and flagged for offside when Villa weren't anywhere near it. Although he did make me feel better - I'm running the line at a cup semi-final in a few weeks' time, and it's nice to know that even Level 1 referees make silly mistakes!

Final score: Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester United