Manchester United will face fierce rivals Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will take on the back-to-back reigning champions after being paired in the draw following Wednesday night’s semi-finals, with the other tie featuring the Premier League’s current second-placed side in Leicester City and fellow top-flight outfit Aston Villa.
Between City and United, the two Manchester clubs have shared the last four EFL Cups and one of them will have the chance to add another in the 1 March final – which would give United a chance of matching City’s haul of six cup wins.
United sealed a convincing victory over Colchester United as Marcus Rashford scored the opener before producing the second in a 3-0 victory, with his effort deflecting in off the unfortunate Ryan Jenkins for an own-goal. Anthony Martial completed the victory with a third.
City meanwhile survived a scare after they saw Joao Cancelo’s opener against Oxford United cancelled out by Matt Taylor at the start of the second half. But a Raheem Sterling double ensured the reigning champions avoid a hiccup at the Kassam Stadium, even if the imminent departure of assistant manager Mikel Arteta was looming over Pep Guardiola’s side.
Leicester came through the most dramatic tie of the semi-finals, with Brendan Rodgers’ team racing out to a two-goal lead thanks to James Maddison and Jonny Evans. But a Tom Davies goal midway through the second half brought Everton back into it, and an injury-time stunner from Leighton Baines took the tie straight to penalties, which the Foxes regained their composure for to clinch 4-2.
They’ll face Villa, who defeated an under-23 Liverpool side on Tuesday night 5-0 due to the Reds’s participation in the Fifa Club World Cup.
The first leg of the two-leg semi-finals will take place in the week commencing 6 January, with the return fixtures taking place at the end of the month in the week starting 27 January.
The Independent (UK)
