Youthful United turn tables on plucky Derby

Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson promised to keep faith with his talented youngsters after they overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach the English League Cup final with a 4-2 victory against Derby County FC at Old Trafford.

Early chance
Kris Commons scored the only goal of the first leg and the course of the tie could have been different had the Scottish international's swerving drive from distance dropped in after seven minutes. The response from the hosts' was emphatic, though, as they struck three times before the break to dash the hopes of their second-tier opponents, who were aiming to earn a place in the 1 March final at Wembley, with the winners progressing to UEFA Europa League qualifying.

'Great performance'
"We're in the final and should be celebrating – it was a great performance in the first half," said Sir Alex, who has relied upon young prodigies such as Jonny Evans, Rafael, Daniel Welbeck and Darron Gibson to take them to the Wembley showpiece. "The young players who played today will play in the final. The important thing is to find out about their temperament and how they play on the big occasions. They have done very well."

Triple strike
Nani levelled the aggregate scores with a powerful 30-metre effort, John O’Shea stroked in the second and Carlos Tévez added a third with a simple header on 33 minutes. Giles Barnes's penalty pulled one back with eleven minutes left but fellow substitute Cristiano Ronaldo's spot-kick ensured United's progression before another Barnes strike. United's opponents will be determined on Wednesday when holders Tottenham Hotspur FC take a 4-1 lead to Burnley FC.

Opener key
Derby manager Nigel Clough, who took over the reins at Pride Park following the first-leg success, said: "The first goal was the killer after we had one that went just wide. The next two goals should have been avoided but we showed a lot second half and if we'd got the goals earlier we may have had a chance. We showed character but nothing quite seemed to drop for us."