Cardiff through after shoot out win

Cardiff City deservedly booked their place in the League Cup final after beating Crystal Palace on penalties.With the tie level on aggregate at 1-1 at the end of two hours of football, Palace missed three spot-kicks in the shoot out, Jonathan Parrs off-target effort sending the Bluebirds to Wembley.Cardiff had dominated the match, with 11 shots on goal and a further 16 off target, hitting the woodwork three times and constantly threatening Julian Speronis goal.In contrast Palace, reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes remaining when skipper Paddy McCarthy was shown a second yellow card, were barely a threat up front.Tom Heaton did not have to make a save all match, although he earned his pay-packet with two stops when it came to penalties.Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Cardiff did not have to wait long to get on level terms.In the seventh minute, Anthony Gardener, who scored in the first leg for Palace, headed into his own net from a Don Cowie cross.Cardiff preceded to lay siege to the Palace goal, striker Kenny Miller shooting wide before rattling the post just before half time.Speronis goal led a charmed life in the second half as well, although the Argentinean stopper did well to push over a Peter Whittingham freekick.Already camped in their own half, Palace dropped deeper when McCarthy was dismissed by referee Howard Webb for a clumsy tackle on Miller.In extra time the one way traffic continued, but Cardiff could not find the second goal that would have sent them through.They came closest at the end of extra time, first Filip Kiss hitting the bar with a volley, then Aron Gunnarsson doing the same with a header.In the shoot out, Miller missed the first spot kick for Cardiff, but Heaton saved from Sean Scannell and Jermaine Easter, with Craig Conway netting for the home side.Rudy Gestede made it 2-0, Mile Jedinak pulled a goal back for Palace, but Peter Whittingham made it 3-1 and Parrs lame effort went wide.Cardiff, who made the FA Cup final in 2008, will play either Manchester City or Liverpool, who play on Wednesday (January 25) night, at Wembley on February 26.