Thursday, October 27, 2011

Man United, Arsenal reach League Cup quarters

Associated Press Sports

updated 4:41 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2011

LONDON (AP) -Manchester United bounced back from its derby humiliation by cruising to a 3-0 victory over forth-tier club Aldershot in the League Cup, while Arsenal overcame Premier League rival Bolton 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia scored United's goals at Aldershot after being left out of the team that lost 6-1 to Manchester City on Sunday.

"Sometimes you need a kick in the teeth to get going again," Owen said. "And we were eager to bounce back."

Arsenal, which lost last season's League Cup final to Birmingham, recovered from a goal down against Bolton, with Andrei Arshavin and Chu-Young Park securing the home side's progress.

In Tuesday's other cup matches, Cardiff beat Burnley 1-0 while second-tier leader Southampton lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace.

United had the perfect tonic after its heaviest home defeat in the league since 1955, with a completely changed team having little trouble disposing of the lowest-ranked side left in the League Cup.

Berbatov netted his first goal of the season after 15 minutes after a one-two between Park Ji-sung and Tom Cleverley on the edge of the box ended with the Bulgaria striker slotting into the net.

He turned provider just before half time, setting up Owen's third goal of the campaign. The English forward's shot straight down the middle managed to beat goalkeeper Ross Worner.

And the victory was put beyond doubt by Valencia's fierce strike three minutes into the second half.

"We were under a little bit of pressure after the result at the weekend," Owen said. "We had United's reputation to look after ... we wanted to bounce and thankfully we got the result."

At Emirates Stadium, after a scoreless first half, the match went into overdrive after the interval, with three goals in less than 10 minutes.

Bolton opened the scoring in the 48th, when Fabrice Muamba dispossessed Emmanuel Frimpong near the halfway line. Muamba turned and charged through the middle toward goal, exchanging passes with Darren Pratley before volleying past Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski from inside the area.

Arsenal equalized six minutes later when Arshavin's run down the right evaded Bolton's defense and he curled a shot past Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

Three minutes later, Arshavin's run through the middle drew three Bolton defenders and the Russian passed to Park, who was alone on the left. The South Korea international curled a powerful shot past Bogdan to make it 2-1 in the 57th.

Bolton had several chances to equalize, including in the 74th when Fabianski misjudged a shot from Chris Eagles and nearly pushed the ball over his head and into his own net.

Arsenal center back Thomas Vermaelen played his first match in two months following ankle surgery, but picked up a calf injury toward the end of the match. Manager Arsene Wenger said he didn't think the injury was serious, but that Vermaelen would likely miss the Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday.

There are four all-Premier League matches in the competition on Wednesday.

Man City, which is five points clear at the top of the Premier League, travels to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea is at Everton, Stoke hosts Liverpool and Blackburn faces Newcastle.

--

Associated Press writer Frank Griffiths contributed to this report.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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