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John Walton
AS IT HAPPENED

As It Happened: Man United v Southampton, EFL Cup final

We’re going minute by minute through the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Hello everyone and welcome to our coverage of the EFL Cup final between Man United and Southampton.

Man United are looking for a first League Cup title since 2010, while Southampton are just the second side in League Cup history to reach the final without conceding a goal.

Getting closer to kick-off now.

Can Jose Mourinho guide Man United to his first piece of silverware of the season at the club? Let us know in the comment section below.

Wembley Stadium is in full voice now.

Some history coming at you - This is the second time these sides have met in the final of a competition, having played each other in the 1976 FA Cup final.

Southampton, then a second-tier side, defeated United 1-0 thanks to a Bobby Stokes goal. It remains the only time they have won a major English trophy.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is out with a hamstring injury he picked up during United’s 1-0 Europa League win at Saint-Etienne earlier in the week.

How will his absence impact on today’s game?

Southampton wearing a third-choice kit today and Tadic kicks us off.

Zlatan looked ready to pull the trigger there but the free was given for a handball on Lingard.

Nathan Redmond lets one fly and it takes a deflection to give us the first penalty of the day.

Southampton goal ruled out for offside!

Sedric pounced on a ball and fed the ball into the box but the flag went up as the ball was being tapped in.

Gabbiadini provided the finish for that goal that was cancelled out by the fourth official.

United finding themselves under a lot of pressure here in the early stages.

People are in disagreement with that offside call.

Gary Lineker is leading the chorus

Free-kick awarded to Man United for Romeu’s challenge on Herrera.

GOALL!!!

Zlatan Ibrahimovic squeezes that free-kick in with a superb strike.

After Southampton dominating the early stages, United have taken the lead here.

Gary Neville reckons the Gabbiadini goal was a difficult decision for the linesman and a matter of ‘inches.’

SAVE!!

De Gea keeps out a shot from Tadic. Didn’t quite get the connection right on the kick.

Dangerous moment there in the United box. You get the feeling Southampton could be getting close to avenging for that offside call.

GOAL!!!

Jesse Lingard puts United 2-0 in front with a beautifully placed strike. That goal comes on the back of some good movement from United.

Quite impressive for United to be leading in this game, despite the fact they’ve been outplayed for most of the first half.

JacK Stephens and Jesse Lingard both issued yellow cards.

Tadic works himself into a good position after some poor United defending but snuffs the end shot.

Half-time is looming in Wembley Stadium. Should the scoreline be reading 2-1 instead of 2-0?

GOAL!!!

No offside call this time and it’s Gabbiadini with another tap in to slip through De Gea’s legs.

It’s game on now and it’s no more than Southampton deserve for all their efforts.

HALF-TIME

The half-time whistle has sounded and Man United lead by 2-1.

Join us in a few minutes for the restart.

Michael Carrick is going to start the second half here.

Can Southampton find an equaliser?

GOAL!!!

And it’s Gabbiadini again to bring the sides level. A brilliant goal-poahcer’s kind of goal.

Southampton resume their dominance in the second half. United defenders look really unsure in the air as Jesse Lingard gets a warning from the referee. He’s already on a yellow so he needs to be careful.

Southampton are gobbling up United’s attacks, and could be poised to take the lead.

Chance there for United there after some indecision from Foster.

Ibrahimovic has his shot blocked and a few more half-chances see the opportunity wither out.

Herrera feels Romeu should get a harsher punishment after appearing to elbow him in the cheek.

Two big chances there for the Saints.

Lovely pass into the danger area from Davis but no-one can get on the end of it.

Meanwhile, the post keeps a Romeu header out.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic puts the peg out to kill off any danger in that Southampton kick.

Strange decision from Foster to punch it out for a throw instead of catching it.

Free-kick for United coming up from outside the box.

Paul Pogba wins a free for Man United in a dangerous position.

Ibra hits it against the wall and it bounces back into play.

Some good interplay between Ibra and Pogba and it results in a corner.

CHANCE!!

Massive opportunity there for Lingard in the box. Instead of just slipping it into the net, he goes for power and blasts it over the bar.

Coming into the final 10 minutes now and fitness levels could well be the difference here after a frantic game so far.

Shane Long comes on for double goal-scorer Gabbiadini, who comes off to a standing ovation.

Threatening shot there from the boot of Rashford but Foster adjusts to keep it out with his foot.

Wayne Rooney has his bib off and looks like he could be coming on as Southampton miss another chance.

Zlatan is doing a lot of defending this evening and uses his head to keep a Southampton shot out.

GOAL!!!

And it’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a second!! Is that the decider in this EFL Cup final??

That goal came on the end of a counter attack where Zlatan was instrumental in the build-up.

He’s putting on an exhibition this evening both in attacking and defensive mode.

Martial is coming off for Fellaini.

Zlatan is getting the plaudits this evening.

We’re well into additional time here and it looks like United have the first piece of silverware of the season.

Full-Time!

And there we have it.

Man United win by 3-2 but many will argue that it should be 3-3 on account of Gabbiadini’s first half attempt that was ruled out for offside.

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