Carling Cup tales

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In a decade or so, Darren Ambrose will retire, buy a house by the sea-side and wait to have a litter of grandchildren so that he can tell them about ‘that’ goal he scored at Old Trafford.

And so he should, as his stunning 35-yard screamer inspired Crystal Palace to a dramatic win over reigning Premier League champions Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.

Not that Sir Alex Ferguson is going to lose too much sleep over this result. Yes, a loss will always hurt, but for United, over the past few years, the value of the Carling cup has been the opportunity to give games to members of the squad who are in need of match fitness; rather than the actual prestige of winning the Cup itself.

As they look to chase down Manchester City for the Premier League title, they may benefit from having a less congested fixture list come January.

For Crystal Palace, however, it will be a glorious opportunity to grace Wembley after a 21 year hiatus. Standing in their way are Cardiff City who dispatched Blackburn Rovers 2-0 on Tuesday. For both these teams it is indeed a fantastic opportunity and their Semi-Final matches will definitely be exhilarating and both sets of fans will be hopeful.

City fielded a relatively weaker side for their victory against Arsenal as Samir Nasri played the pantomime villain, returning to the Emirates for the first time since he jumped ship. City should go all out to win.

The same has to be said of Liverpool, who brushed off Chelsea. The two legged Semifinal between City and Liverpool will be interesting, especially as both teams are also battling for their respective Premier League positions.

All in all, the Carling Cup has not disappointed when it comes to entertainment.