Southend has done what many clubs failed to do: They knocked out Manchester United in the League Cup! This was today’s shock and only surprise. Southend, who reside at the bottom of the Championship, beat the Mancunians 1-0.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who celebrated his 20 years at Manchester last Monday, rested a few keyplayers like Edwin van der Sar but he did field Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. But that wasn’t enough to escort the Mancunians to the quarterfinals of the cup they won last year.
Halfway through the first half Freddie Eastwood put an unstoppable freekick behind ManU goalie Tomasz Kuszczak. ManU tried to equalise but saw all their efforts stopped by Southend goalie Darryl Flahaven and much to his relief saw an effort of David Jones hit the bar.
I
n Scotland Falkirk dethroned Celtic in the Scottish League Cup. The number one of Scotland lost after Dutchman Evander Sno missed his penalty.
Extra time was needed when the score was tied at the end of 90 minutes. After about eight minutes in extra time it was Celtic who scored when Maciej Zurawski headed in a cross of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. But only one minute after Falkirk’s Anthony Stokes scored the equaliser in a rebound and once again the teams were tied.
Penalties were needed to determine the winner and it was pretty much equal after 4 shots. After that each team missed one penalty and it was Jack Ross who scored the 5-4 for Falkirk. Evander Sno missed the penalty and so Falkirk went through to the next round.
Article comments
1 - M.D. Sandwasher
Southend beating ManU was one of the most exciting moments I've ever witnessed. The League Cup is one of the many reasons football is the most popular sport in the world.
2 - manfred
it's an absolute sensation! And the thing with cups is that u dont have to be the big bucks club to actually win it. If u remember the old UEFA Cupwinners Cup, it had all kinds of teams in it and not just the top 5 ones....
3 - Christopher Rose
What a great goal Eastwood, a boyhood Manchester United supporter, scored to knock out United. Eastwood is actually a Romany and, after the match, returned to his caravan (trailer to you Westerners) home from which the local council are trying to evict him and his family! Quite a different lifestyle to the multi-millionaires he defeated that night...