Carling Cup Holders Manchester United hammered out of Cup Competition
West Ham United produced the shock of the night as they beat Manchester United in the Carling Cup quarterfinal. Ex-United player Jonathan Spector scored the first goal of his career, that too against his old club in the Premier
League.
This is the 6th season for the American defender and he had never been on the score sheet. He scored not only once, but twice to send West Ham fans into ecstasy.
United tried to come back, but Carlton Cole ended their hopes inside 10 minutes when he scored twice; first in the 56th minute then in the 66th.
Spector and Cole were ably supported by the on loan Nigerian striker Victor Obinna from Inter Milan. The 23-year-old had assisted in each of the four goals scored.
As expected, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made 10 changes from the last Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers. They thrashed Blackburn 7-1 in that game, but today they were at the receiving end. It is not very often that
Fergie’s team sees such a score line against his own team.
Ferguson did play the experienced Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea, but even they could not stop the onslaught from Hammers.
The Hammers manager Avram Grant was not surprised by the 4-0 commanding victory over Red Devils.
The Israeli was proud of the performance. He said that he knew his players well and this kind of performance is not a shock for him as they have shown this kind of form against Newcastle United and Liverpool as well.
Grant said, “Today we played fantastic and also scored and we kept a clean sheet. So I'm very happy. I thought we could win, but not by that score. It's very special. To perform like this against the best team today in the country
and score four goals, what more can I ask?"
He was also pleased with the performance of former United man Spector. The player has not been playing very much this season, but his two goals might change his fortunes now. He was included for this tie and even his boss would
be surprised by such astonishing display.
Praising the American, he said that the boy is very professional and always works hard in the training even if he is not playing regularly.
He also talked about the Hammers improvement on a day-to-day basis. He believes that this is a young team and there are lot of new players that have come in lately. If they keep on playing like that their League form will definitely
improve as well.
On the other hand, Ferguson hopes this will be a lesson for the young team. The Scotsman played mainly his second string that was coming in this game with a 28-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Ferguson said, “We've always done well at that. Young players have come through these periods. A few years ago we lost to Coventry and they learnt a lesson that day."
United Boss believes that the home advantage was crucial for West Ham. Their fans played a part in this win. They also came better prepared for this tie. He also conceded that his young team was guilty of making so many errors,
giving away goals cheaply and should not be making them even if they are young.
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