Ben Foster kept Manchester United's bid for an unprecedented five trophies on track with a man-of-the-match performance in a penalty shoot-out win over Tottenham in the League Cup final at Wembley yesterday.
The England goalkeeper produced two crucial saves to deny Tottenham victory in open play, after the teams finished locked at 0-0, before pulling off a superb stop to keep out Jamie O'Hara's opening penalty for the visitors.
That handed United the edge and, after David Bentley had sent Spurs' third spot-kick wide, Brazilian midfielder Anderson coolly converted to ensure United won the shoot-out 4-1 and lifted the trophy for only the third time in the club's history.
Having already bagged the World Club Championship in December, Sir Alex Ferguson's side now have a chance to emulate the great Celtic side of 1967 by completing a domestic treble as well as bringing home the European Cup.
"They took their penalties very comfortably. Ben Foster's fantastic first save has given us a big lift there," said Ferguson.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said: "I thought we were terrific. It was a great performance and it comes down to a lottery in the end with penalties.
"We weren't that confident with our penalty takers, really. That's how it goes but overall they couldn't beat us, not in 90 minutes plus extra time. I thought we didn't deserve to lose, I thought we were fantastic."
It was a triumph that United probably just about deserved after coming agonisingly close to sealing victory in the third minute of injury time at the end of the regular 90 minutes.
Collecting Darron Gibson's pass on the right of the box, Cristiano Ronaldo cut inside and beat Heurelho Gomes at his near post with a shot that clattered off the inside of the upright at such pace that Nani was unable to direct the rebound on target.That capped a frustrating 90 minutes for the Portugal winger, who had earlier been booked for diving when he might easily have won his side a penalty.
Tottenham, too, might have dispensed with the need for extra-time if Aaron Lennon had been able to beat Foster from ten yards out midway through the second half.
Such an outcome would have been an unfair reflection of a contest in which United mostly held the upperhand, although they had reason to be grateful to Foster once more when he thwarted Darren Bent with his legs, five minutes before the end of the second period of the time.