Sir Alex Ferguson tonight celebrated his 34th trophy since taking over at Old Trafford after defeating Aston Villa 2-1 in the Carling Cup final and immediately set his sights on his next piece of silverware after Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable season by coming off the substitutes’ bench to head the winning goal.
The Manchester United manager, who cast doubt over Rooney’s involvement in England’s friendly against Egypt on Wednesday after revealing the striker was struggling with a knee injury, praised his players’ determination after they recovered from going behind to James Milner’s fifth-minute penalty to retain the trophy.
Michael Owen brought United level before pulling his hamstring, his misfortune providing Rooney with an opportunity to once again steal the show. The striker nodded past Brad Friedel to register his 28th goal of the season and give Ferguson that familiar winning feeling.
The United manager, however, quickly turned his attention to his next opportunity for success when told of the trophy tally of his illustrious reign. “Hopefully there will be another one this season,” said Ferguson, who added that he never tires of collecting medals. “It still feels as good to win trophies. I appreciate all the things we have achieved as a club and I appreciate the luck we have carried. I’ve lost finals and that’s not easy. The only way you can enjoy Wembley is by winning.”
Rooney said he had been keen to start against Villa but also admitted he had been suffering with “a bit of a niggle” in his knee. Ferguson later confirmed he had considered withdrawing his match-winner. “He has been complaining a little bit for a few weeks. The doctors are assessing [his knee] at the moment. I don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t know what England are going to do.”
The United manager acknowledged that Nemanja Vidic was fortunate not to be booked at the very least for the challenge on Gabriel Agbonlahor which provided Villa’s penalty. Martin O’Neill, the losing manager, claimed the defender should have been sent off for what appeared to be a professional foul.
Ferguson said: “I think in the main we were probably the better team but credit for Aston Villa’s performance. Towards the last 10 minutes, where they started to shove up that big brigade of theirs, it was like the bloody Alamo.”
On Vidic he added: “There have been three or four in the last week that have been similar. We saw in Milan with [Chelsea's Salomon] Kalou brought down, which to me looked a penalty. You had one [on Saturday] that was a claim for the Arsenal player in a similar situation and then [Juliano] Belletti bringing down [Craig] Bellamy and he gets a red card in probably the exact same position as our player found himself in. I haven’t seen the replay but he was lucky not to be booked.”
O’Neill, not surprisingly, had a forthright interpretation of the referee Phil Dowd’s decision. “I think it was plain for all to see,” he said. “It’s an inexplicable decision and I really don’t understand it. It was a goalscoring opportunity and the player is fouled in the area. It’s straightforward from an otherwise fine referee. In a couple of days’ time it’s all forgotten about but it’s major point in the game. I’ve spoken to Phil but what Phil and I have said will stay with me.”
Richard Dunne, whose mistake led to Owen equalising, questioned whether the game would have changed had Vidic been dismissed because Villa struggled to break down a 10-man United side in the Premier League last month but O’Neill disagreed. “Richard’s a great lad but I absolutely disagree with him. It’s a different game, just because someone plays well with 10 men in one particular match … this is Wembley and you are talking about all the things that go with Wembley. I wouldn’t have liked to have played Manchester United with 10 men for 83 minutes.”
Ferguson, meanwhile, backed United to show the same resilience they displayed against Villa for the remainder of the campaign. “We don’t give in and it’s a good quality to have. I think you’ll see that in the remainder of the season,” said the manager, who will have Rio Ferdinand available for Saturday’s game at Wolverhampton. “There are a lot of hard games [to come]. It was a good result for us with Chelsea losing. Arsenal are bang in the frame now. They have the easiest programme on paper and it will be an interesting run-in.”
NICK BARMBY picked up five trophies in one season at Liverpool but leaving hometown club Hull in the Premier League will match anything he has achieved in an 18-year career.
It’s safe to assume now that New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton has had a few weeks to digest the franchise’s Super Bowl title and has returned to work, he has finally let the shiny Lombardi 
the AFC championship game in 1995, before finally getting to implement the plan when the team won the Super Bowl in 2007.
Having won six 
With one shot, it was over.
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