Hull City managed to beat Manchester United 2-1 in the second leg of their EFL Cup semifinal on Thursday but the Red Devils still managed to progress to the final thanks to a 3-2 aggregate win.
After a 2-0 lead in the first leg at Old Trafford had seemingly put them in pole position to meet Southampton, who beat Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday (2-0 on aggregate), United did seem a little relaxed in their play despite manager Jose Mourinho sending out a very strong line up.
The likes of David de Gea, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all started in stark contrast to the home side, who were forced to play without the injured duo of Robert Snodgrass and Ryan Mason.
Under new manager Marco Silva, Hull have shown promise in the Premier League and here too, they weren't afraid to attack United on the counter and were rewarded for their when Marcos Rojo tugged back Harry Maguire in the box.
Tom Huddlestone stepped up to take the 34th-minute penalty and scored despite de Gea guessing the direction correctly. At 1-0 up on the night and just 2-1 down in the tie, Hull felt they had a real chance of making an upset which would dwarf Southampton’s achievement the night before.
United sensed the danger and came out in the second period with an intent to push for that killer goal that would effectively seal the tie.
And despite monopolising possession they were struggling, until £100 million man Paul Pobga toe-poked from inside the box in the 66th minute. Jesse Lingard had been tackled by Huddlestone on the byline and the ball luckily came into the path of the United midfielder, who cooly finished to kill off Hull’s chances of making the final.
Hull, to their credit, didn't give up and even got a late goal to Omar Niasse tapped in from six yards after David Meyler had set him up well but United held on to progress to Wembley for their first League Cup final since 2010.
The final is scheduled for February 28th.