Manchester Utd 3 Manchester City 1 (United win 4-3 on agg):Wayne Rooney headed Manchester United to Wembley with an injury-time winner to silence Manchester City. The England striker settled a pulsating Carling Cup semi-final when he turned home Ryan Giggs' cross from close range.
United had already been pegged back once when Carlos Tevez scored to haul City level on aggregate after Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick had found the net either side of half-time.
Last week, in a New York bar named Mad Hatter, City chief executive Garry Cook delivered the best team-talk Alex Ferguson could have wanted as he declared this Carling Cup tie as good as over with the Blues leading 2-1 from the first leg at Eastlands.
If Cook knew much about Manchester United, it is this — never write them off.
So, after Carlos Tevez had threatened to take the semi-final into extra-time when he quite brilliantly turned home Craig Bellamy’s cross 14 minutes from time, up popped Rooney, who nodded home Ryan Giggs’ cross.
Controlling possession against a City side which sat too deep, United had carved out a decisive lead thanks to two precise finishes from Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick either side of the interval.
Only Tevez’s refusal to bow at the feet of his old club kept the Blues going, but it was not enough. And though Rooney inexplicably failed to grab a third before Tevez struck, he is too much a part of United’s fabric to merely accept defeat.