:00:30. > :00:33.Evening. We are down to the final four in the Carling Cup. Tomorrow,
:00:33. > :00:38.of course, Manchester City host Liverpool in our life game on the
:00:38. > :00:44.BBC. Tonight, it's all about the first leg of the semi-final tie
:00:44. > :00:51.between Crystal Palace and Cardiff City. Leroy Is with me this evening
:00:51. > :00:54.to analyse the game. Not many people fancied Crystal Palace when
:00:54. > :01:00.they rocked up at Old Trafford for a quarter final with Manchester
:01:00. > :01:04.United. COMMENTATOR: Brilliant goal!
:01:04. > :01:14.screamer from Darren Ambrose took the game into extra-time before
:01:14. > :01:17.
:01:17. > :01:27.Cardiff, had a home date with Blackburn Rovers, Kenny Miller sent
:01:27. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:42.Yes, Cardiff City into the semi- finals of the League Cup for the
:01:42. > :01:46.first first time since 1966. Palace has made it through four times.
:01:46. > :01:49.Neither team has never made it through to the final. That will
:01:49. > :01:53.change this season. The Championship will be represented in
:01:53. > :02:00.the final on the 26th February. The semi-finals are two legs. Watching
:02:01. > :02:03.the first instault stallment for us this evening were Mark Bright and
:02:03. > :02:07.Simon Brotherton. COMMENTATOR: Two clubs hoping to
:02:07. > :02:11.reach the final for the very first time. For Crystal Palace Wembley is
:02:11. > :02:14.the new theatre of their dreams after wing at Old Trafford in the
:02:14. > :02:16.last round. Cardiff City are playing in the semi-final for the
:02:16. > :02:21.playing in the semi-final for the first time in 46 years. One thing
:02:21. > :02:29.is quaranteed. We will have a finalist from the Championship for
:02:29. > :02:34.the first time in just over a decade. Crystal Palace's
:02:34. > :02:44.preparations have been hampered by a virus affecting half a dozen
:02:44. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:55.members of the squad. Only Manchester United in the last round.
:02:55. > :03:02.He starts this evening on the left hand side. Cardiff's manager, Malky
:03:02. > :03:10.Mackay, made ten changes for Saturday's FA Cup tie. The majority
:03:10. > :03:20.of his players are well rested. Tom Heaton keeps his place in goal.
:03:20. > :03:25.
:03:25. > :03:29.Scotland international, Kenny us under way in this Carling Cup
:03:29. > :03:35.semi-final first leg. Cardiff City have a good recent record here at
:03:35. > :03:40.Selhurst Park winning here on three of their last five visits. Ken
:03:40. > :03:50.Livingstone Palace in recent years at home have been a tough nut to
:03:50. > :03:51.
:03:51. > :03:58.crack. Cardiff City in the white on the attack early on. Miller
:03:58. > :04:06.dispossessed by the Jonathan Parr. Miller scored one of the goals in
:04:06. > :04:12.the quarter final win over Blackburn Rovers. Cardiff City fans
:04:12. > :04:18.enjoying themselves. For a moment there we wondered whether it was
:04:18. > :04:25.alight. A semi-final. Here's McNaughton back in the team after
:04:25. > :04:29.injury. Promising run. Very nearly fed through to Joe mason. Been
:04:29. > :04:34.pulled up just outside the penalty area. Free-kick here. Dikgacoi,
:04:34. > :04:39.good play from McNaughton, coming in from the right hand side, the
:04:39. > :04:49.right back, strong. He impeded him. He impeded Mike Dean, right on-the-
:04:49. > :04:52.
:04:52. > :04:59.spot. Whittingham for Cardiff. I think he anticipated the wall
:04:59. > :05:04.jumping. They kept their feet on the ground. Crystal Palace have
:05:04. > :05:08.been looking for scraps so far in the game. They are not keeping the
:05:08. > :05:14.ball. Miller. Cardiff looking dangerous. Whittingham in the
:05:14. > :05:23.penalty area. This is Ralls. Speroni, at the second attempt
:05:23. > :05:29.hangs on. Darren Ambrose giving away the ball. Good delivery in the
:05:29. > :05:37.box. It isn't cleared. It take as deflection as well. Can Crystal
:05:37. > :05:47.Palace create something here? They have a corner kick. Good play by
:05:47. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :06:01.first corner of the evening. Oh, that was an opportunity! Again
:06:01. > :06:05.Murray with the heading chance. Great delivery from Darren Ambrose.
:06:05. > :06:09.Good movement at the far post. Murray comes close, he goes around
:06:09. > :06:14.the back, then the front. Good opportunity. He is in the middle of
:06:14. > :06:23.the screen. Gets in front of his man. Good opportunity. He should
:06:23. > :06:33.have at least, at least, test the keeper. Took a deflection. It was
:06:33. > :06:36.
:06:37. > :06:46.Mark Hudson with the header. It'll over the top from Hudson. As I said
:06:47. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:58.before, Hudson and Turner, good leap. Really, really, he stands up
:06:58. > :07:06.
:07:06. > :07:13.ball now in the game. Murray with a little lay off. It could be a
:07:13. > :07:23.chance. Good save. A step over here from Murray. Held up well. Goes
:07:23. > :07:30.
:07:30. > :07:40.with the sidefoot instead of the ahead of him. Mason waits in the
:07:40. > :07:43.
:07:43. > :07:47.Kenny Miller goes for goal. Worth a chance. He was the leading
:07:47. > :07:54.goalscorer, Kenny Miller. There is not enough pressure on the ball. He
:07:54. > :08:04.has a chance to look up. He knows exactly what he's trying to do. A
:08:04. > :08:15.
:08:15. > :08:25.another corner. Everyone know what is they are doing. They pass that
:08:25. > :08:32.ball well. Lots of movement in midfield. This is McNaughton trying
:08:32. > :08:36.to drill the ball in. It's fallen kindly here for Miller. Well,
:08:36. > :08:42.outplaced by a sea of home shirts. Two on one. Ball into the danger
:08:42. > :08:48.area, deflected. Touch, moves the ball. It just didn't open up for
:08:48. > :08:58.him, did it? Mason trying to get away. A stretch for there for
:08:58. > :09:09.
:09:09. > :09:13.at that? Poor clearance. A shooting opportunity which is really missed
:09:13. > :09:19.by Ralls. A big occasion, you have to rise to the big occasion.
:09:20. > :09:25.Tonight, I would have to say that Cardiff City have rose a lot Bert
:09:25. > :09:33.than Crystal Palace. Better shape, more composure. Handball there. I
:09:33. > :09:43.think that is what has been given by Mike Dean. Home crowd doing
:09:43. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:54.going to be in. It's Antony Gardner. Gardner was only two yards out. He
:09:54. > :10:01.could hardly miss. Crystal Palace ahead in this semi-final.
:10:01. > :10:05.everyone is patting down Ambrose, his delivery was great. There was a
:10:05. > :10:11.lot of bodies there. He couldn't get clearance on it. Great delivery
:10:11. > :10:16.am he comes. He is nowhere near. McCarthy goes up for the initial
:10:16. > :10:22.one. Jedinak, then Gardner a simple tap. You will not get a better
:10:22. > :10:26.chance, or an easier chance in a semi fine l Darren Ambrose scored
:10:26. > :10:30.the goal of the night in the quarter final. Has he set up the
:10:30. > :10:35.goal of the night in this semi- final leg? It's a fantastic
:10:35. > :10:39.atmosphere. We talked about having so much pocession and putting the
:10:39. > :10:42.home team under pressure and not capitalising on that earlier. That
:10:42. > :10:52.sh what Malky Mackay will have said going into half-time. Have you to
:10:52. > :11:05.
:11:05. > :11:15.Cardiff problems in this second- half. Zaha again. Parr with him on
:11:15. > :11:28.
:11:28. > :11:34.well, tricks he is willing to show. Fantastic play. Very nearly finding
:11:34. > :11:44.Chris Martin at the post. Much better. Must have got encouragement
:11:44. > :11:57.
:11:58. > :12:07.down. He takes his eye off the Bala little bit. Good position here, he
:12:07. > :12:12.pulls off-the-shoulder. This is Zaha. He's coming into the game
:12:12. > :12:19.more, you sense, at the start of this second period. A cracking
:12:19. > :12:24.cross. Shot in. It very nearly fell for Martin. Ambrose on the far side.
:12:24. > :12:31.It was. As you said good play from Zaha. Lovely cross. Just touched
:12:31. > :12:36.over. Darren just steps back. Then Martin just... As he's coming on to
:12:36. > :12:46.it, more anticipation. He wants the ball at his feet. He is asking for
:12:46. > :12:51.
:12:52. > :12:59.it. It was moving quickly, to be Excellent chance for Parr to cross.
:12:59. > :13:04.Oh, shouts of handball there, from the home crowd, inside the penalty
:13:04. > :13:13.area by Cowie. I wouldn't mind a little look again at that in a
:13:13. > :13:23.moment or two. Free-kick, Cardiff City for the foul by Zaha. Yeah,
:13:23. > :13:38.
:13:38. > :13:41.there is the poor cross. The crowd handball inside the penalty there.
:13:42. > :13:50.Nothing given. Speroni was scrambling to get to that. They are
:13:50. > :14:00.claim dg was -- it was a handball by Joe Mason in the penalty area.
:14:00. > :14:07.
:14:07. > :14:13.Play to the whistle. That is a foot whistle went before the ball was
:14:13. > :14:19.headed into the back of the net by Miller. Everybody that time went
:14:19. > :14:26.right around Speroni on the line. Pushing and pullinging. What did he
:14:26. > :14:36.give it for? The hands on Speroni. Great header from Miller. Mason is
:14:36. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:06.impeding. That's what it's given that can turn the game. Pretty tame.
:15:06. > :15:16.Not really a test of Speroni. A real party atmosphere inside
:15:16. > :15:16.
:15:16. > :16:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 52 seconds
:16:09. > :16:19.That's the first sniff Cardiff have That has just gone for a corner.
:16:19. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:56.Corner or not, Gunnarsson there. Nearly 87 minutes played.
:16:56. > :17:14.
:17:14. > :17:24.easy, then Wilfred. Miller just tries to improvise and
:17:24. > :17:36.
:17:36. > :17:46.goal for Cardiff right at the end of the game. We are in the last
:17:46. > :18:13.
:18:13. > :18:23.Gardner stepped out of the way. Four minutes of added time. Palace
:18:23. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:57.purred. Nerve-shredding moments for Palace. Jedinak wallops the ball
:18:57. > :19:02.clear. Crystal Palace need to hol on to
:19:02. > :19:06.possession here. The referee blows the final whistle and Anthony
:19:06. > :19:10.Gardner's goal, his first of the season, separates the two sides and
:19:10. > :19:15.means that Crystal Palace will take a slender 1-0 lead to South Wales
:19:15. > :19:19.in a couple of weeks' time for the second leg of this Carling Cup
:19:19. > :19:23.semifinal. It was a close game. We knew it would be a close game. We
:19:24. > :19:33.certainly thought it would be, and so it proved to be. It is advantage
:19:34. > :19:34.
:19:34. > :19:41.A win and a clean sheet. You must be reasonably happy tonight?
:19:41. > :19:46.very pleased with the performance. A lot of questions were getting
:19:46. > :19:50.asked of us from Cardiff, because they're a good team. I felt on
:19:50. > :19:53.tonight's performance we deserved that 1-0 victory that we've got.
:19:53. > :19:59.thought we gave a really good account of ourselves tonight.
:20:00. > :20:04.Started really well and peppered the goal. I think at times we led a
:20:04. > :20:10.charmed life, with the ball that was disallowed. The only reason I
:20:10. > :20:15.can think of is the referee thought he's made a mistake and give an
:20:15. > :20:20.corner. None of our players went anywhere near the goalkeeper, which
:20:20. > :20:26.he suggested the foul was on Joe Mason. Anyone who will see the
:20:26. > :20:31.pictures tonight will tell you the referee has made a howler over that
:20:31. > :20:37.one. And a goal from Anthony Gardner. He is defensively
:20:37. > :20:42.fantastic, and in attack he is an asset. A good kick with Ambrose.
:20:42. > :20:46.Tonight was second to none. Cardiff asked us a lot of questions. They
:20:46. > :20:50.asked us about our character, with the virus, and the way they played.
:20:50. > :20:56.We stood up and were counted. Every individual man was counted tonight
:20:56. > :21:03.and it got us the win. I'm proud of my team and it is half-time and we
:21:03. > :21:08.are 1-0 down. It is all to play for at Cardiff City Stadium. It was a
:21:08. > :21:12.great atmosphere at Selhurst Park. The crowd saw a tisc cup tie?
:21:12. > :21:17.Cardiff started off really well and you thought Palace were showing
:21:17. > :21:25.signs of having the flu symptoms but they came back into the game.
:21:25. > :21:29.The game ebbed and ploughed. -- flowed. In the second half when
:21:29. > :21:36.Cardiff had a legitimate goal, we thought at the time it was
:21:36. > :21:40.disallowed. They thought the referee was evening things up.
:21:40. > :21:48.don't think the referee can make two wrongs to make a right. But
:21:48. > :21:58.then I look at this and at Dean's position and he can't even see
:21:58. > :21:58.
:21:58. > :22:02.where Speroni is. He whistled very quickly. He did. Speroni isn't
:22:03. > :22:07.complaining about anything. Can I see why he was disappointed with
:22:07. > :22:11.him on that decision. So you sympathise with him? I don't know
:22:11. > :22:17.what Dean saw but no-one else saw it. There was a shout for a penalty
:22:17. > :22:21.in the second half. Did the referee get this one right? I think he did.
:22:21. > :22:28.I thought it would be very difficult to give, but look at it
:22:28. > :22:32.from this angle and it looks like it brushes Cowie's arm but from
:22:32. > :22:37.this angle it hits his thigh. for the only goal, this was an
:22:37. > :22:41.interesting one. You would have thought the goalkeeper, Tom Heaton,
:22:41. > :22:47.a plan to come up with everything on the night but it didn't work
:22:47. > :22:50.thon occasion. This is the third or fourth occasion he came out, but on
:22:50. > :22:57.this occasion Jedinak got there before him. He could have flicked
:22:57. > :23:00.it out of play but he keeps it in play and Anthony Gardner, 6 foot 4,
:23:01. > :23:04.he hit it perfectly. You got the feeling at the start of play today
:23:04. > :23:09.both managers would have been happy with that end result, going into
:23:09. > :23:15.the second tie at Cardiff. I think Palace are more happy, getting
:23:15. > :23:21.their noses in front, in a tight game. They can sit back and use the
:23:21. > :23:27.pace of Zaha and Ambrose. They'll be happy with that. But it is far
:23:27. > :23:31.from over. It is finely balanced. Both sides could easily go through.
:23:31. > :23:36.I think the first 20 minutes, the second tight will be important.
:23:36. > :23:40.Both these young up and coming managers have done tremendous jobs
:23:40. > :23:44.at their clubs. Both Scotsmen as well, both understated but always
:23:44. > :23:54.in control. They know what they want from their teams and their
:23:54. > :23:55.
:23:55. > :24:00.teams have delivered this year. Malky Mackay, and Dougie took over
:24:00. > :24:08.just over a year ago. Well done to both of them. I have to put you on
:24:08. > :24:14.the spot. Who is your money on come the second time? It's a tough one
:24:14. > :24:24.but Cardiff at home. Tomorrow night the second semifinal gets under way.
:24:24. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:05.It brings together two teams who It is set up nicely for the third
:25:05. > :25:09.meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool tomorrow evening. The
:25:09. > :25:13.bookies have City down as favourite to go through on this one. Do you
:25:13. > :25:17.agree with them on this? certainly do. They've been a
:25:17. > :25:22.revelation this year. A breath of fresh air. I've enjoyed watching
:25:22. > :25:25.them perform. Interestingly, for all the talent on show with both
:25:25. > :25:29.these teams, there is going to be key players missing. Vincent
:25:29. > :25:37.Kompany has a four-match ban. Suarez is missing for Liverpool.
:25:37. > :25:47.These are key absentees. Manchester losted arguably their best player
:25:47. > :25:49.
:25:49. > :25:52.with Yaya Toure. Kolo also not there. Savage can come in. I don't
:25:52. > :25:57.think Liverpool can cope as well with the loss of Suarez. He scored
:25:57. > :26:04.a lot of their goals. He's gone off the boil recently but Manchester
:26:04. > :26:09.can cope with the losses better. increases the onus on Andy Carroll
:26:09. > :26:16.and Craig Bellamy. He hasn't been used enough. Are you surprised by
:26:16. > :26:23.that? He's been outstanding. Andy Carroll hasn't played enough
:26:23. > :26:30.football. He's not found his feet for me. It is more important for
:26:30. > :26:37.Liverpool to win titles again. gayry and the team for that at
:26:37. > :26:47.Etihad for Manchester versus Liverpool at 7.30pm.
:26:47. > :26:48.
:26:48. > :26:52.Sheffield United 4 and Yeovil 0. Let's look at the goals. It was
:26:52. > :26:57.Gary Johnson's first game in charge Gary Johnson's first game in charge
:26:57. > :27:06.of Yeovil. It was always going to be a tough ask. Richard Creswell
:27:06. > :27:12.got the hosts off to a great flyer. It hardly touched the surface. Lee
:27:12. > :27:17.Williamson, I've seen him do this on many occasions at Rotherham and
:27:17. > :27:23.Watford. He can pass the ball as well. Sheffield Wednesday on a
:27:23. > :27:33.great run of form. They are back on track now. For Gary Johnson it is
:27:33. > :27:42.
:27:42. > :27:52.maybe a bigger job than he in nine at Hereford. They won
:27:52. > :27:52.
:27:52. > :28:02.thanks to Lee Brown. That was awful keeping. Rovers need a bit of luck.
:28:02. > :28:08.They are in the doldrums. Delroy is only 31 but Rovers got
:28:08. > :28:12.the win. This was a sending off. A straight red card for a high
:28:12. > :28:20.challenge against elyot Richards. McLeish came up with a winner for
:28:20. > :28:30.Rovers. This is a good job to get into. It
:28:30. > :28:30.
:28:30. > :28:38.is an ambitious job, with fanatical support. Managerless Bristol Rovers
:28:38. > :28:42.move up two places. Hereford stay in 21st place. That's
:28:42. > :28:46.all from us tonight. Manchester City versus Liverpool live on BBC