Soccer-City lose to United but hang on to reach final

Manchester City lost 1-0 to Manchester United on Wednesday but hung on to reach the League Cup final 3-2 on aggregate and will face Aston Villa at Wembley. Nemanja Matic’s 35th-minute strike gave United victory at the Etihad Stadium but the midfielder was later sent off and it was not enough to overturn the 3-1 deficit from the semi-final first leg at Old Trafford.

Matic struck home a thumping half volley off the post as City failed to clear Fred’s curling free kick in United’s first threatening attack of the game. But the Serbian was shown a red card for his second bookable offence 15 minutes from time and United were unable to get the second goal which would have sent the tie to penalties.

The final is on March 1 when City will seek to win the trophy for a third successive year and a fourth time in five seasons.