Sunderland and Man City to contest League Cup Final

Manchester City and Sunderland will be the first sides to visit Wembley this season on 2 March, when they contest the League Cup Final.

Sunderland secured their place in the final courtesy of a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory at Old Trafford, with Gus Poyet’s side losing 2-1 on the night to earn a 3-3 aggregate scoreline after both legs.

The Black Cats had won the first leg by 2-1 at the Stadium of Light two weeks ago and Wednesday’s game ended 1-0 to the Reds after 90 minutes.

That took the tie to extra time and when former United youngster Phil Bardsley equalised in the 119th minute, it appeared they were through.

But an even later striker from Javier Hernandez in the 120th minute levelled things up on aggregate and it was decided by penalties.

The shoot-out itself will perhaps be best remembered for the number of misses, rather than goals, with only three out of the ten scored.

It was left to Sunderland ‘keeper Vito Mannone to save from Rafael and seal Sunderland’s first Wembley cup final since they reached The FA Cup Final in 1992.

"It's been a difficult season, they [Sunderland fans] deserve that," said Poyet.

"Let's see if we can go one more and win it."

"The things that happened today, it's incredible, but the players have been outstanding. Credit to them.”

Manchester City ’s passage to the final was a little less dramatic, as they beat West Ham United by 3-0 at the Boleyn to complete a 9-0 aggregate victory on Tuesday evening.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side were already 6-0 up from the first leg at the Etihad, but they made no mistake in the second match as a brace from Alvaro Negredo and another goal from Sergio Aguero was enough to send them to Wembley.

"It was a very professional performance. It was easy to think the game was finished from the 6-0 in the first leg, but it was important to reach the final winning all the games,” said Pellegrini.

The final takes place at Wembley on Sunday 2 March 2014.