Skip to main content

Berbatov rescues Manchester United; Arsenal reach Carling Cup final

Manchester United's Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov celebrates after scoring a late winner against Blackpool.
Manchester United's Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov celebrates after scoring a late winner against Blackpool.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Manchester United come back from two goals down to beat Blackpool 3-2
  • Two goals from Dimitar Berbatov help United extend their lead at the top to five points
  • Aston Villa win 2-1 at Wigan thanks to goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young
  • Arsenal beat Ipswich Town to claim a place in the Carling Cup final

(CNN) -- A three-goal blitz in 17 minutes preserved Manchester United's unbeaten record in the English Premier League and saved them from an embarrassing defeat at Blackpool.

The league leaders eventually won 3-2 at Bloomfield Road after newly-promoted Blackpool had stunned Alex Ferguson's side by leading 2-0 at the interval.

But two goals from Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov and one from Mexican Javier Hernandez spared United's blushes and extended their lead at the top of the table to five points over Arsenal.

Blackpool, entertaining United in a top flight game for the first time in 40 years, flew out of the traps against their illustrious opponents and were ahead inside a quarter of an hour.

Defender Craig Cathcart, who joined Blackpool from United in August last year, rose to head Charlie Adam's corner into the net.

When Blackpool doubled their advantage on 42 minutes a major shock looked to be on the cards. Again United failed to deal with a Blackpool corner and DJ Campbell nodded home at the far post.

In the first half we were battered. We were all over the place
--Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
RELATED TOPICS

Ferguson sent his side out five minutes before the restart in an attempt to kick start their reply but they very nearly conceded a penalty when Rafael upended Luke Varney in the penalty area.

Blackpool began to tire as United upped the tempo and they pulled a goal back when Berbatov turned home Darren Fletcher's cross on 72 minutes.

Just two minutes later Hernandez, on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney, collected Ryan Giggs' pinpoint pass before firing low into the net.

And with 88 minutes on the watch Berbatov grabbed his second and United's winner when he ran onto a Paul Scholes pass and drilled a left foot shot into the net.

After the match Ferguson told Sky Sports: "In the first half we were battered. We were all over the place. Maybe we were too confident.

"We changed at half-time, Ryan Giggs made a tremendous difference. We started to penetrate and I think we were deserved winners in the end."

Aston Villa made it two wins in four days as they beat Wigan Athletic 2-1.

Gabriel Agbonlahor put Gerard Houllier's side in front when he pounced on a loose ball to head past Wigan's Omani goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

Ashley Young then extended Villa's lead from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Hendry Thomas.

Wigan pulled a goal back with ten minutes left after James McCarthy's long range effort deflected off James Collins but Villa held on for a win that takes them up to 13th in the table.

Arsenal booked their place in the League Cup final after beating second division side Ipswich 3-0 at Emirates Stadium.

The Premier League side trailed 1-0 from the first leg but sealed their place at Wembley thanks to goals from Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner, French defender Laurent Koscielny and Spain international Cesc Fabregas.