Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial added late-stage goals for Manchester United, who beat Everton 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the English League Cup.
The Red Devils were joined in the semi-final list by Tottenham, who earlier beat second-tier Stoke City 3-1.
If video refereeing were used in this tournament, Cavani would hardly have stayed on the court to give United the lead in the 88th minute. The replays showed the moment when the Uruguayan striker grabbed Colombian Everton defender Yerry Mina by the neck in the middle of the second half of the quarter-final match at Goodison Park.
Cavani received a pass from Anthoni Martial, dribbled his left boot and finished flush from the edge of the area.
Martial got the second goal, in a counterattack that was practically the last play of the match.
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Hours earlier, José Mourinho came within two wins of giving Tottenham its first major tournament trophy since 2008.
Gareth Bale, Ben Davies and Harry Kane all scored for Mourinho’s side in a 3-1 win over Stoke on Wednesday.
The others qualifying for the top four round are Manchester City and Brentford – a second division team.
Mourinho came to Tottenham last year to end the club’s long drought of titles. The League Cup, which he had already won with Chelsea – three times – and with United, has always been a title he pursues.
Every time the Portuguese has reached the semifinals, he has ended up winning the competition.
He presented a strong lineup against Stoke, who are seventh in the second division. Kane played the entire game amid a packed schedule of Premier League games.
Bale shot after a Harry Winks cross to give Tottenham the lead in the 22nd minute, his third goal since returning in September for his second spell with the team. The winger did not come out into the second half, after he appeared to be shifting uncomfortably when he came out at halftime.
Jordan Thompson equalized for Stoke in the 53rd in an unusual attempt on goal by the home team after a counterattack, but Davies again gave Tottenham the lead with a fierce shot from 25 meters down the field.
Kane confirmed the win at 81 when he found Moussa Sissoko’s pass and sent the shot under the bar.
“It’s a cold, wet and windy Wednesday night in Stoke, so it was tough,” Winks admitted, repeating a commonplace about Stoke that dates back to when the team played in the Premier League and it was difficult to beat them at home.
“But we applied ourselves, we were aggressive and ready to fight, which made it easier for us. The mentality of the team was to keep fighting and doing what allowed us to take the advantage and fortunately gave us the victory ”.
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