Stuff Of Dreams For Carrick

Michael Carrick fulfilled a lifelong ambition of winning a major trophy at Wembley after the Reds came from behind to beat Aston Villa and retain the Carling Cup.

The 28-year-old midfielder missed out on last season's Wembley triumph against Tottenham Hotspur after being rested by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Having experienced the pain of a cup final defeat - when United lost to Chelsea in the 2007 FA Cup final - Carrick was over the moon to end the day on the winning side this time round.

"It’s a great feeling to lift the cup. It’s a first Carling Cup win for me and it’s a dream to win at Wembley," he told MUTV.

"We didn't get off to a good start, but we at least had a lot of time to get back in the game. The last few matches we’ve played at Wembley have been quite dull affairs, but this was an open end-to-end game and I thought we played well.

"We always believed we could go on to win it. We just had to be patient and trust each other. When we play our football we always believe we will get chances and it was a great finish my Michael [Owen] after great work by Berba.

"Thankfully Wayne came on and finished it off for us and I think we were deserved winners."

While keen to praise a great team effort, Carrick reserved a special metion for United's matchwinner.

"Wayne is scoring a lot of very important goals for us and a lot with his head," added Carrick in reference to Rooney's seventh headed goal in his last eight games.

"It was a terrific finish and he could have had another one when he hit the post. Hopefully he can keep his scoring run going."