Manchester, England: Manchester United's wretched campaign reached a new low on Wednesday after a penalty shootout defeat to Sunderland in a dramatic League Cup semifinal left the beleaguered English champions staring at a season without silverware.
Sunderland will play Manchester City in the March 2 final at Wembley Stadium after goalkeeper Vito Mannone saved Rafael da Silva's decisive spot kick to seal a 2-1 victory in the shootout, after the semifinal finished 3-3 on aggregate after 120 minutes.
With barely a minute left of extra time, United was on the brink of going through on away goals after Jonny Evans scored a 37th-minute header to make it 2-2 on aggregate. But the match swayed Sunderland's way when United goalkeeper David de Gea fumbled in a shot from Phil Bardsley.
Javier Hernandez forced penalties, though, by scoring in the first minute of injury time.
"We did not play well enough on the night," said United manager David Moyes, who has just the Champions League title to go for in a tumultuous first season at Old Trafford.
"If we were going to (go through), we were going to stumble over the line and get through. It wasn't because we played well enough."
