Manchester City reached their fourth straight League Cup final as second-half goals from John Stones and Fernandinho gave Pep Guardiola’s side a 2-0 win over Manchester United in Wednesday’s semi-final at Old Trafford.
City will meet Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley in the April 25 final as they seek their fourth League Cup triumph in a row.
In a frantic opening to the game, both teams had efforts ruled out for offside with Stones turning the ball into his own net but being saved by the flag and Ilkay Gundogan converting a low ball in from Phil Foden but, again, the attempt was rightly ruled out.
Kevin De Bruyne struck the post with a thundering drive from outside the box before Foden also put the ball in the net for City but the visitors were foiled by offside once again.
It was an open and entertaining game with City looking sharper but United competitive as they sought revenge for last year’s defeat by their neighbours at the same stage of the competition.
City went ahead five minutes after the break when Foden whipped in a free kick from the left through a crowded box and defender Stones bundled a cross home at the back post, the ball going in off his thigh.
United keeper Dean Henderson produced a brilliant save to tip over a strike from Riyad Mahrez, after the Algerian had burst forward from the halfway line.
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Fernandinho made sure of the win seven minutes from time with a stunning volley as he pounced on a headed clearance from Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
United have now lost at the semi-final stage in their last four Cup campaigns, leaving manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still searching for his first final since taking over at the club.
“We’re getting closer. This is a much better version of United than a year ago in those semis,” said the Norwegian.
“It’s not psychological, sometimes you meet good teams in the semis. City are probably the best team in England at the moment,” he added.
City entered the field in number eight shirts in tribute to former player Colin Bell who died on Tuesday and Guardiola said they had honoured his memory.
“It’s for Colin Bell and his family. He helped to build something special for this club. It’s an incredible victory for us to beat United away and it was for him absolutely,” he said.
“The team is ready and it was an outstanding performance. We dipped a little bit in the second half, we were tired…but when the team has this mentality they can do something incredible. It’s not the Champions League but four times in a row to reach the final – I’m so impressed,” he said.
Tottenham Hotspur reached the League Cup final after goals from Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-min sank Championship (second-tier) Brentford 2-0 on Tuesday to set up a clash with Manchester United or Manchester City in April’s showpiece match.
Fellow London side Brentford, playing in their first semi-final in a major cup competition, started brightly but fell behind in the 12th minute when unmarked French midfielder Sissoko headed in a fine Sergio Reguilon cross from the left.
The visitors, who had beaten four top-flight teams on their way to the semis, thought they had drawn level after the break when striker Ivan Toney headed home but the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside, which was spotted by VAR.
Toney’s grounded knee was ruled to be offside before he rose to head in from close range after Ethan Pinnock nodded a cross back across the face of goal.
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs side responded to that let-off with South Korean forward Son collecting a fine pass from Tanguy Ndombele and bursting goalwards before slotting past goalkeeper David Raya to make it 2-0 after 70 minutes.
Brentford’s disappointment was compounded when Josh Dasilva was sent off six minutes from time for an over-the-top challenge on Tottenham’s Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who was immediately substituted with blood streaming down his shin.
