Final: Manchester United 2, Newcastle United 1

Manchester United defeated Newcastle United at home Wednesday to advance to Round 4 in the League Cup. Anderson scored on a brillant first half strike, then Tom Cleverley made up for his earlier miscue on a nice shot into the corner to push the advantage to 2-0. A 60 minute double substitution by Alan Pardew paid immediate dividends, as Shane Ferguson found Papiss Cisse on the far post just a minute after the two were brought on.

It was an important goal for Cisse, who failed to convert a penalty chance against Norwich City on Sunday and has yet to score in the current Premier League campaign. He also hit the crossbar late in the match on a bicycle kick that he created for himself by juggling in traffic.

It seems disingenuous to claim that you never wanted to win anyway after losing a match, but if we want to comfort ourselves after this loss, we'll note that the week of October 29 is not as full of fixtures as it would have been had Newcastle been the victors. Obviously a win would have been preferable, but if a match must be lost, this is the one.

Newcastle next play Reading at Madejski Stadium on Saturday, September 29.