19 Dec 2013

West Ham, Man U into League Cup semi-finals

11:13 am on 19 December 2013

English Premier League football strugglers West Ham United have reached the semi-finals of the League Cup with a come from behind 2-1 victory at managerless London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United also made the semis with an away win, the underperforming champions beating Stoke City 2-0 without Wayne Rooney, who's joined fellow striker Robin van Persie on the injury list.

United will play Sunderland in the semis, while Manchester City will host the Hammers.

Forgotten marksman Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring for Spurs after half-time at White Hart Lane, but Matt Jarvis and Modibo Maiga both scored late goals within five minutes to provide the upset.

United's Danny Welbeck led the line as a lone striker at Stoke - but it was winger Ashley Young who opened the scoring with a second half rocket into the Stoke net.

Patrice Evra finished the scoring near full-time.

A hail storm in Stoke saw play suspended for about eight minutes. The weather also caused an FA Cup fixture between Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers to be abandoned.