2008 Football League Cup Final

2008 Football League Cup Final

Event	2007–08 Football League Cup
Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur 1 2
a.e.t.
Date	24 February 2008
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
Attendance	87,660
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Carling Cup Final was a football match played on 24 February 2008. It was the first League Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium, and the first to be played in England since the old Wembley was demolished in 2000. The defending champions were Chelsea, who beat Arsenal in the 2007 Final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The final was contested by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Arsenal 6–2 on aggregate in the semi-final, and Chelsea, who beat Everton 3–1 on aggregate. Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 2–1, after extra time, winning their first trophy for 9 years.

Chelsea took the lead in the 37th minute through a Didier Drogba free kick. This goal made Drogba the first player to score in three League Cup Finals, having also done so in 2005 and 2007. A Wayne Bridge handball gave Tottenham a 68th-minute penalty, and Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov converted from the spot. Three minutes into extra time, Jonathan Woodgate headed a Jermaine Jenas free kick onto Petr Čech, who in turn pushed it straight back onto Woodgate's head to score the winning goal.

The win was an important one for Tottenham as they secured UEFA Cup qualification for the following season, something they would not have achieved in the Premier League, as they finished 11th. For Chelsea, it was the second of four competitions in which they would finish as runners-up that season, after they lost to Manchester United in the Community Shield and ended up finishing as runners-up to the same team in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

Match details

24 February 2008 15:00	Chelsea	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Tottenham Hotspur	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 87,660 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
	Drogba  39'	Report	Berbatov  70' (pen.) Woodgate  94'

Chelsea

Tottenham

GK 1 Petr Čech 120+4' RB 35 Juliano Belletti CB 26 John Terry (c) CB 6 Ricardo Carvalho 104' LB 18 Wayne Bridge DM 12 Mikel Jon Obi 96' 98' CM 8 Frank Lampard CM 5 Michael Essien 88' RW 24 Shaun Wright-Phillips 72' CF 11 Didier Drogba LW 39 Nicolas Anelka Substitutes: GK 23 Carlo Cudicini DF 33 Alex MF 13 Michael Ballack 88' MF 10 Joe Cole 98' FW 21 Salomon Kalou 72' Manager: Avram Grant

GK 1 Paul Robinson RB 28 Alan Hutton CB 39 Jonathan Woodgate CB 26 Ledley King (c) LB 2 Pascal Chimbonda 61' RM 25 Aaron Lennon 120+1' CM 8 Jermaine Jenas 120+3' CM 4 Didier Zokora 38' LM 15 Steed Malbranque 75' CF 10 Robbie Keane 102' CF 9 Dimitar Berbatov Substitutes: GK 12 Radek Černý DF 5 Younes Kaboul 102' MF 6 Teemu Tainio 116' 75' MF 22 Tom Huddlestone 61' FW 23 Darren Bent Manager: Juande Ramos

Match officials Assistant referees: Andrew Garratt (West Midlands) Martin Yerby (Kent) Fourth official: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) Reserve assistant referee: David Bryan (Lincolnshire)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Notes

The Spurs players celebrate after winning the 2008 Carling Cup.

• Didier Drogba's goal made him the all-time leading scorer in League Cup Finals with four. He also became the first player to score in three League Cup finals and the first to score in three consecutive English domestic cup finals.^{[citation needed]}

Road to Wembley

Chelsea

Round 3 Hull City 0–4 Chelsea Round 4 Chelsea 4–3 Leicester City Round 5 Chelsea 2–0 Liverpool Semi-final (1st leg) Chelsea 2–1 Everton Semi-final (2nd leg) Everton 0–1 Chelsea   (Chelsea won 3–1 on aggregate) Tottenham Hotspur Round 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Middlesbrough Round 4 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Blackpool Round 5 Manchester City 0–2 Tottenham Hotspur Semi-final (1st leg) Arsenal 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur Semi-final (2nd leg) Tottenham Hotspur 5–1 Arsenal   (Tottenham Hotspur won 6–2 on aggregate) References