Sunday February 28th
Manchester United 2 Aston Villa 1 (2010 Carling Cup final at Wembley)

Carling Cup holders Manchester United came from behind to lift the cup with the winner coming from the head of Rooney. Aston Villa who were the first winners of the cup in 1961 got off to an ideal start when James Milner converted a penalty kick in the 4th minute after Nemanja Vidic had pulled Agbonlahor down in the box. United who may have considered themselves lucky to still be playing eleven-aside drew level 7 minutes later when a run by Berbatov resulted in the ball falling to Michael Owen who slotted it past Brad Friedel. Ji Sung Park saw his shot come off the base of the upright and cleared off the line in first-half stoppage time. After a one-two with Berbatov in the 74th minute, Valencia pulled the ball back for Rooney, who had replaced the injured Owen, to find the top corner and beat Friedel with a looping header. Another cross from Valencia 4 minutes later resulted in Rooney nodding the ball against the post but Manchester United had done enough to win the Carling Cup for the third time in five years.