The English Carling Cup has wrapped up its quarterfinal round as Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Blackburn Rovers all advanced to the semifinals. Several of the top clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man U) rested some of their regular starters while Manchester City fielded a strong side.
The Carling Cup is not one of the featured tournament and many of the large clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, & Man U) are focusing on the Premiership and the UEFA Champions League. Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, and Manchester City are not playing in Europe and were able to field many of their regular starters. The semifinals will start with the first legs on January 5/6 and the second legs on January 19/20.
Here’s a recap of the all the matches along with video highlights.
| Man Utd Gibson (16, 38) | 2-0 (HT 2-0) | Tottenham |
Bookings: De Laet (78) | Video Highlights | Bookings: Hutton (80) |
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| Portsmouth Petrov (og 10) | 2-4 (HT 1-2) | Aston Villa Heskey (12) |
Bookings: Brown (53) | Video Highlights | Bookings: Milner (59) |
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| Blackburn Kalinic (9) | 3-3 (HT 1-0) | Chelsea Drogba (48) |
Bookings: Grella (107) | Video Highlights | Bookings: Bruma (101) |
Blackburn win 4-3 on penalties | ||
| Man City Tevez (50) | 3-0 (HT 0-0) | Arsenal |
Bookings: Kompany (82) | Video Highlights | Bookings: Traore (38) |
