Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side were lucky to win the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa.

After falling behind in the opening five minutes when James Milner converted a penalty, the reigning Carling Cup champions fought back to eventually overhaul Villa 2-1 thanks to goals from Michael Owen and his replacement Wayne Rooney.

But Ferguson admitted there was an element of luck in both Rooney's goal and a missed opportunity for Villa defender Richard Dunne later in the match.

"The header wasn't a brilliant header, not great pace on it but it was well placed just under the bar. The goalkeeper had work to do to get to it. He's in that sort of form. He's scoring so many vital goals for us. We should have put it beyond doubt the opportunities we had," Ferguson said.

"In the main we were the better team but credit to Aston Villa's performance. In the last 10 minutes when they started shoving up that big brigade of theirs it was like the Alamo. They had a go. Dunne had a back post header and missed altogether. You need a bit of luck in these situations."