Best XI from Capital One Cup Semi-Finals: Sunderland and City Shock and Awe

In two results that couldn't have come about in more antithetical fashion, Sunderland and Manchester City each took a controlling stake in their respective finals after seeing out first-leg victories over Manchester United and West Ham, respectively.

While the Black Cats' 2-1 win at home against David Moyes' outfit was a shock for many, ground out until the climactic end, Manuel Pellegrini's side were rampant in their 6-0 triumph over the Hammers and unsurprisingly have a large contingent involved in this star XI.

Unfortunately for Sam Allardyce's boys, not one berth has been booked by the East Londoners, while United boast just the one inclusion—but who's made the cut?

Read on for a breakdown of who impressed most in the opening encounters of this season's Capital One Cup semi-finals.

Strong goalkeeper performances were few and far between in the League Cup semi-finals, but Vito Mannone gets the nod as the best of a bad bunch.

Adrian conceded five goals for the second match in succession on Wednesday, while Costel Pantilimon was rarely tested at the Etihad Stadium.

However, Mannone faced a fair share of testing shots against United and was equal to all except a Nemanja Vidic header that few would have been able to prevent.

More matches of this fluidity between goalkeeper and defence are needed if Poyet's side are to take much fortune from this campaign.

Pablo Zabaleta could have been mistaken for a midfielder for the majority of his Wednesday evening stroll, such was the freedom with which the Argentinian was permitted to go about his business.

With West Ham providing close to no attacking pressure of their own, the South American full-back was allowed to link up with the likes of Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri without hesitation, sending cross after cross into dangerous parts of the pitch.

Special mention goes to Phil Bardsley, who forced Ryan Giggs into scoring an own goal at the Stadium of Light and dealt with the threat of Adnan Januzaj decently in the first half.

As far as debuts go, Marcos Alonso couldn't have hoped for a far better return to life in England than with a rousing 2-1 win over the reigning Premier League champions.

The left-back, on loan from Fiorentina, showed exactly why he's been so highly commended as a potential star over the last four or five years, but has never had the ideal circumstances to show it.

Against the Red Devils, the former Bolton Wanderer shone as not just a defensive unit, but tested Rafael with an endless barrage of probing runs down his flank.

Alonso's beginning to life at the Stadium of Light got off to a magnificent start, with Gus Poyet undoubtedly excited over the talent he's got on his hands, providing a short-term solution to something of a problem area in the Black Cats squad for some time now.

Gael Clichy is unfortunate to miss out, having done well to set Edin Dzeko up for a score at the Etihad.

While the amount of goals scored by the Citizens was undoubtedly the main talking point for Pellegrini's men, the clean sheet was another positive spin on their result, thanks in large part to the figure of captain Vincent Kompany.

The Belgian centre-back did show some signs of shakiness up against Carlton Cole in the closing stages of the first half, but that was about as severe as things got for City.

It was thanks to Kompany that Pantilimon was granted a quiet day in between City's posts, with West Ham's ranks being prevented from building any momentum in attack.

Following the introduction of Martin Demichelis, Kompany was allowed to move into a slightly more advanced role, having shown some encouraging eagerness to get the ball forward with pace, even when in defence.

It was thanks to a well-positioned Wes Brown that Bardsley was able to assert the necessary pressure on Ryan Giggs, forcing the Welshman to put the opener in the back of his own net.

The former Manchester United defender was resolute against an insufficient outing from Danny Welbeck, dealing well with most of the examinations sent his way and showing fine communication with Vito Mannone.

One dark patch for the centre-back came when ex-teammate Nemanja Vidic beat both Brown and John O'Shea in the air to score an equaliser, although his assist on the stroke of half-time makes up for the error.

Save for a couple of wasted free-kick attempts on goal, Yaya Toure pitched in with an unselfish performance against West Ham, providing his midfield marauders with the means to maul their foes.

It was all too nonchalant for the Ivorian, who time and again would casually stroll forth from his midfield hub, the likes of Mark Noble, Mohamed Diame and Alou Diarra unable to do a thing about it.

The maturity shown by Toure was encouraging, too, as the former Barca man slipped further into a deep-lying role when his side took control of the fixture, but still proving decisive going forward, taking chances when appropriate to heap further misery on the East Londoners.

Manuel Pellegrini withdrew his asset with 25 minutes left to play, but the damage was done.

Since Ki Sung-Yueng moved on loan from Swansea City over the summer, Sunderland have more often than not benefited as a team as long as their newly acquired central midfielder is in form.

The South Korean is nothing if not reliable when playing at the top of his game, and it was another calming performance on Tuesday evening that paid dividends for the Northeast hosts.

The 24-year-old's passing was precise, and even though Ki was denied as much of the ball in the second half, his string-pulling was efficient when he did snatch possession.

Very arguably the most impressive player for Sunderland, despite the fact that he only came on 10 minutes into the second period.

With Emanuele Giaccherini proving ineffective, it was local boy Adam Johnson who provided the Black Cats with the necessary spark around the opponent's box.

This eventually came to a climax when Tom Cleverley was left to foul his fellow Englishman, gifting Fabio Borini the chance from 12 yards that would eventually decide the tie.

Johnson showed a superb shift of pace off both flanks, but comes onto the left in order to accommodate one of his overcome foes.

A dull performance from Manchester United was given a sole cause for comfort, with Adnan Januzaj again showing signs of his progress among Moyes' first team down the team's left wing.

The Belgian-born playmaker was unfortunate in that Poyet had obviously centralised his tactics around neutralising his talents, but even with the likes of Bardsley and Seb Larsson tracking his movement, the youngster was slick.

He managed to find the back of the net but was pulled back after Giggs was adjudged to have been offside, while a delicate chip was unfortunate not to beat Mannone, just ending up over the bar.

David Silva's constant supply of ammunition to those sprayed around him was almost unfair, the space opening up around the Spaniard partly caused as a result of his side's magnificent movement.

Unlike under Roberto Mancini, Silva looked even more free to move where he pleased against West Ham, drifting from flank to flank when necessary.

However, it was without a doubt the playmaker's creation through the heart of the Hammers defence that cut the Etihad Stadium visitors deepest.

Samir Nasri was also in fluid motion for City on Wednesday and can be counted unfortunate not to have booked a place in the line-up.

Scoring his second Manchester City hat-trick in the demolition of West Ham, Alvaro Negredo gets the nod as player of the round, finishing chances both simple and complex as his team took a firm grip of their semi-final.

The Beast was in predatory mode against the Hammers, linking up excellently with attacking partner Edin Dzeko, but more importantly finding space all too frequently for Sam Allardyce's liking.

In the absence of the injured Sergio Aguero, the Citizens need a player who can hold the line almost single-handedly and provide the necessary finishing to move past these crucial crunch clashes.

Thanks to Wednesday's performance, Negredo showed that they have that, and then some.