2008 Scottish League Cup final

2008 Scottish League Cup final
Event	2007–08 Scottish League Cup
	After extra time. Rangers won 3–2 on penalties.
Date	16 March 2008
Venue	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Man of the Match	Kris Boyd
Referee	Kenny Clark
Attendance	50,019
	← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Scottish League Cup final was played on 16 March 2008^[1] at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the 61st Scottish League Cup final. The final was contested by Dundee United, who beat Aberdeen 4–1 in the semi-final,^[2] and Rangers, who beat Hearts 2–0.^[3] The two sides had last met in a League Cup final in the 1984–85 season with Rangers winning 1–0 on that occasion. The previous year's winners were Hibernian, who beat Kilmarnock 5–1 in the 2007 final^[4] but they were knocked out in the third round by Motherwell. It was the fifth successive year in which both of the previous year's finalists did not make it to the final. Rangers won the match 3–2 on penalties after the match had ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time.

Route to the Final

Dundee United

	Home team	Score	Away team
Round 2^[5]	Dundee United	3 – 1	Ross County
Round 3	Falkirk	1 – 3	Dundee United
Quarter-final	Dundee United	3 – 1	Hamilton Academical
Semi-final	Dundee United	4 – 1	Aberdeen

Rangers

	Home team	Score	Away team
Round 3^[5]	East Fife	0 – 4	Rangers
Quarter-final	Motherwell	1 – 2	Rangers
Semi-final	Rangers	2 – 0	Hearts

Match

Team news

Dundee United manager Craig Levein made four changes after the side's midweek goalless draw at Celtic. Noel Hunt returned to the starting line-up along with Christian Kalvenes, Willo Flood and Morgaro Gomis. Out went David Robertson and Craig Conway, who dropped to the bench and cup-tied duo Danny Grainger and James O'Brien.

Rangers were without the suspended duo Nacho Novo and Charlie Adam, who were replaced by Lee McCulloch and Chris Burke.

Match Summary

Neither team looked better than the other during a fairly uneventful first 10 minutes. in the 18th minute the Rangers captain Barry Ferguson forced Dundee United's goalkeeper, Łukasz Załuska to produce the first real save of the game. It was Dundee United however who became the dominant team as the first half progressed and took a deserved lead in the 33rd minute, the first shot by Noel Hunt was saved by Allan McGregor but the ball wasn't cleared and Hunt somehow managed to get the ball over the line despite the best efforts of Steven Davis. United could have been two goals in front moments later as Saša Papac almost scored an own goal with a pass back but Carlos Cuéllar was there to clear it off the line.

Before the second half got underway, Rangers manager Walter Smith made a substitution with midfielder Brahim Hemdani making way for Striker Jean-Claude Darcheville. The second half started in a similar way to the first, with neither team in control. United felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute when Cuellar appeared to pull back Christian Kalvenes in the box, but referee Kenny Clark inexplicably waved play on. Walter Smith made another substitution in the 61st minute when the left back Papac was replaced by Striker Kris Boyd. Darcheville headed the ball into the net in the 77th minute from a quickly-taken free-kick, but the referee decided that Ferguson had taken the set-piece too quickly. Rangers scored the equalizing goal with 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Mark Kerr attempted a pass back to his goalkeeper but Boyd was there to score the goal that would take the match into Extra time.

The first half of extra time got underway with Rangers looking the better team, however with just 5 minutes played Mark de Vries restored United's lead when he put the ball past McGregor with a strike from the top-right edge of the box. Rangers dominated the second half and were rewarded when Boyd headed in the equalizer at the back post in 112th minute. The match would be decided by a Penalty shootout, Boyd scored the winning penalty after a miss by Lee Wilkie.

Match details

16 March 2008

15:00

Dundee United	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Rangers
Hunt 34' de Vries 95'	Report	Boyd 85', 113'
Penalties
Flood Conway de Vries Robertson Wilkie	2–3	Darcheville Whittaker Davis McCulloch Boyd

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 50,019

Referee: K Clark

Dundee United

Rangers


DUNDEE UNITED :
GK	1	Łukasz Załuska
RB	24	Mihael Kovačević
CB	18	Garry Kenneth
CB	4	Lee Wilkie (c)
LB	3	Christian Kalvenes	94'
RM	20	Prince Buaben		96'
CM	6	Willo Flood
CM	7	Mark Kerr
LM	16	Morgaro Gomis
CF	10	Noel Hunt		78'
CF	22	Mark de Vries
Substitutes:
GK	13	Euan McLean
DF	5	Darren Dods
DF	2	Sean Dillon
MF	12	David Robertson		95'
MF	15	Craig Conway		78'
Manager:
Craig Levein


RANGERS:
GK	1	Allan McGregor
RB	21	Kirk Broadfoot	54'
CB	24	Carlos Cuéllar
CB	3	David Weir
LB	5	Saša Papac		61'
RM	17	Chris Burke		116'
CM	7	Brahim Hemdani		45'
CM	6	Barry Ferguson (c)
CM	23	Christian Dailly
LM	12	Steven Davis
CF	27	Lee McCulloch	64'
Substitutes:
GK	25	Neil Alexander
DF	28	Steven Whittaker		116'
MF	8	Kevin Thomson
CF	9	Kris Boyd		61'
CF	19	Jean-Claude Darcheville		45'
Manager:
Walter Smith

Statistics

	Dundee United	Rangers
Total shots	11	13
Shots on target	4	7
Corner kicks	6	8
Fouls committed	19	19
Yellow cards	1	2
Red cards	0	0

References

^ "League Cup Fixtures". BBC Sport. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ "Aberdeen 1-4 Dundee United". BBC Sport. 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ ^a ^b SPL teams receive a bye to the second round; teams competing in Europe into the third.

[1] "League Cup Fixtures". BBC Sport. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2008.

[2] "Aberdeen 1-4 Dundee United". BBC Sport. 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.

[3] "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.

[4] "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.

[bye-5] SPL teams receive a bye to the second round; teams competing in Europe into the third.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Scottish League Cup
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v t e Dundee United F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1974 1981 1985 1987 1988 1991 1994 2005 2010 2014
Scottish League Cup Finals	1979 (December) 1980 1981 1984 (October) 1997 2008 2015
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	1995 2017
UEFA Cup Final	1987

v t e Rangers F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1877 1879 1894 1897 1898 1899 1903 1904 1905 1909 1921 1922 1928 1929 1930 1932 1934 1935 1936 1948 1949 1950 1953 1960 1962 1963 1964 1966 1969 1971 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1989 1992 1993 1994 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2008 2009 2016 2022 2024
Scottish League Cup Finals	1947 (April) 1949 (March) 1951 1957 1960 1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1970 1975 1978 1979 (March) 1981 1982 1984 (March) 1984 (October) 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1993 1996 1998 2002 2003 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011 2019 2023 (February) 2023 (December) 2024
SFL Championship Play-offs	1891 1905
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	2014 2016
European Cup Winners' Cup Finals	1961 1967 1972
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European Super Cup	1972 (unofficial)
Other matches	1901 Glasgow International Exhibition Cup Final 1902 British League Cup Final 1946 Southern League Cup 1946 Victory Cup Berwick Rangers 1–0 Rangers (1967) 1971 Ibrox disaster Rangers 2–2 Celtic (1987) Dubai Champions Cup (1987) Progrès Niederkorn 2–0 Rangers (2017)