Soccer
Man U back to winning ways
2011-10-25 23:15
London - Manchester United bounced back from their derby humiliation by cruising to a 3-0 victory over forth-tier club Aldershot in the League Cup, while Arsenal overcame Premier League rivals Bolton 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals 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, who 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 leaders Southampton lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace.
United had the perfect tonic after their 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 equalised 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 minute.
Bolton had several chances to equalise, 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.
There are four all-Premier League matches in the competition on Wednesday.
Man City, who are five points clear at the top of the Premier League, travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea are at Everton, Stoke host Liverpool and Blackburn face Newcastle.
Results on Tuesday in the Carling Cup (home team listed first):
Aldershot 0, Manchester United 3
Arsenal 2, Bolton 1
Cardiff 1, Burnley 0
Crystal Palace 2, Southampton 0
League One
Brentford 0, Stevenage 1
Bury 2, Notts County 2
Carlisle 3, Sheffield Wednesday 2
Colchester 1, Bournemouth 1
Hartlepool 0, Tranmere 2
Preston 3, Oldham 3
Rochdale 1, Chesterfield 1
Scunthorpe 2, Huddersfield 2
Sheffield United 2, MK Dons 1
Walsall 1, Exeter 2
Wycombe 1, Charlton 2
Yeovil 2, Leyton Orient 2