Simon Parker column

One year on and the moment remains vividly implanted in the brain.

Corner from the right from Gary Jones, City’s first of the game. James Hanson rises and ... bang, we know the rest.

The anniversary of that night at Aston Villa was fittingly marked with another semi-final dripping with tension and drama.

Sunderland emerging victorious from Old Trafford may hardly be on the same level as a fourth-tier club claiming a third Premier League scalp – especially given the current flaky state of Manchester United – but the finale was an appropriate tribute to what had gone on 12 months before.

Even if the penalty shoot-out was quite rightly scorned round these parts by those who have seen it done rather better...

The sheer incompetence of the spot-kicks made for edge-of-the-seat viewing as both sides tried their best to throw away a ticket to Wembley.

But at the end of it, as the Black Cats rejoiced in front of their bank of away fans as City had done the same day a year before, the real winner was the Capital One Cup itself.

Derided so often for its numerous name changes and belittled by top-flight teams who regard the early rounds as something they’ve put their shoe in, the League Cup continues to enjoy a renaissance.

Let’s not forget the huge part that Bradford City played in that, their exploits from last season gripping an armchair audience that had become jaundiced by domestic knock-out football.

Swansea, too, deserve the plaudits and not just for going where fellow Premier rivals failed and eventually putting the Bantams to the sword. Don’t forget their crushing Wembley triumph was earned with away wins against Liverpool and Chelsea – both of whom had fielded A list line-ups.

And now Sunderland have followed in those footsteps, also toppling Chelsea before piling the misery on David Moyes.

The FA Cup, the cliched one they all want to win, continues its steep decline – not helped by a TV company chasing ratings with a Chelsea v Stoke choice as live game and totally missing the point by ignoring Southend and Hull.

But let’s champion the cause of the underdog. The Capital One Cup has earned its place as the nation’s new favourite.