Manchester United collected the first silverware of the season with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in the League Cup Final. The Midlanders were criticised in certain sections of the press for not taking the game to United, but the match might have panned out so much differently if referee Phil Dowd had dismissed Nemanja Vidic – as he should have done – for his double foul on Gabriel Agbonlahor in the lead up to Villa’s early spot kick. When is last man not last man?

That man Wayne Rooney was the difference in the end, arcing a terrific header past Brad Friedel after replacing the injured Michael Owen. Here’s hoping the pugnacious Scouser can be wrapped in cotton wool between now and the World Cup kicking off in June if England are to have any chance of glory.

Elsewhere, much was made of Wayne Bridge ignoring the handshake of former friend John Terry in Saturday’s lunchtime kick off at Stamford Bridge, but this isn’t a showbiz blog, so we’ll stick to footballing matters. Manchester City’s triumph was the latest twist in one of the most open title races in years and further proof that the Bridge isn’t quite the fortress it was in the Mourinho era. With Petr Cech joining Ashley Cole on the sidelines and JT’s misdemeanours seemingly catching up with his concentration on the pitch, the Chelsea rearguard is looking vulnerable at present.

Perhaps the biggest talking point of the weekend was the horrific injury sustained by Welsh teenager Aaron Ramsey in Arsenal’s almost irrelevant 3-1 victory at Stoke. The youngster suffered a double compound fracture of his right leg in a full-blooded challenge with the Potters’ Ryan Shawcross.

I’ll level with you here – my initial reaction was that yet another Gunner had been sidelined by a reckless tackle from a side who set out to impose their physicality on the North London side. Further replays of the incident have convinced me that the tackle bore no malice and was simply an unfortunate accident caused by the English defender arriving on the scene a touch late. However – and it’s a pretty big ‘but’ here – if sides continue to overstep the mark when it comes to “putting it up ‘em”, such accidents are all the more likely to occur. No-one wants the sport to become non-contact, but some level of control is needed or the ugly scenes on Saturday evening could become more commonplace.

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