LONDON - Substitute Wayne Rooney headed Manchester United to its second League Cup triumph in a row in a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday and Tottenham beat Everton 2-1 to stay fourth in the Premier League. Rooney went on as a second-half substitute for United's first goalscorer, Michael Owen, who went off with a hamstring injury having equalized James Milner's fifth minute strike for Villa from the penalty spot. Rooney headed home a cross from Valencia in the 74th to take his tally for the season in all competitions to 28 and take manager Alex Ferguson's haul of trophies at Old Trafford to 26, including four League Cups. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Tottenham's first in the 11th minute and Luka Modric added the second in the 28th as Tottenham cruised into a comfortable lead at White Hart Lane. But Ayegbeni Yakubu hit back for Everton in the 55th minute and substitute Landon Donovan missed an easy close-range chance near the end which would have earned the visitor a point. The victory gave Tottenham 49 points from 28 games and kept Harry Redknapp's team above Manchester City on goal difference. City won 4-2 at Chelsea on Saturday to end the leader's 38-game unbeaten home run in all competitions. Liverpool stayed sixth with 48 points from 28 matches despite beating Blackburn 2-1 at Anfield. Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a 20th minute lead and, although Keith Andrew equalized from the penalty spot in the 40th after a handball on the ground by Jamie Carragher, Fernando Torres scored a second for the home side in the 44th.
