2008 Football League Cup Final

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2008 Football League Cup Final
League Cup Final 2008 Chelsea Spurs.jpg
Event2007–08 Football League Cup
After extra time
Date24 February 2008
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Man of the MatchJonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)[1]
RefereeMark Halsey (Lancashire)[2]
Attendance87,660[3]
WeatherPartly cloudy
13 °C (55 °F)[4]
2007
2009

The 2008 Football League Cup Final was a football match played on 24 February 2008.[5] 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.[6] The final was contested by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Arsenal 6–2 on aggregate in the semi-final,[7] and Chelsea, who beat Everton 3–1 on aggregate.[8] Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 2–1, after extra time, winning their first trophy in nine years.

Chelsea took the lead in the 39th 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.

Road to Wembley[edit]

Match[edit]

Details[edit]

Chelsea1–2 (a.e.t.)Tottenham Hotspur
Drogba 39' Report Berbatov 70' (pen.)
Woodgate 94'
Attendance: 87,660[3]
Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur
GK 1 Czech Republic Petr Čech Yellow card 120+4'
RB 35 Brazil Juliano Belletti
CB 26 England John Terry (c)
CB 6 Portugal Ricardo Carvalho Yellow card 104'
LB 18 England Wayne Bridge
DM 12 Nigeria Mikel John Obi Yellow card 96' downward-facing red arrow 98'
CM 8 England Frank Lampard
CM 5 Ghana Michael Essien downward-facing red arrow 88'
RW 24 England Shaun Wright-Phillips downward-facing red arrow 72'
LW 39 France Nicolas Anelka
CF 11 Ivory Coast Didier Drogba
Substitutes:
GK 23 Italy Carlo Cudicini
DF 33 Brazil Alex
MF 10 England Joe Cole upward-facing green arrow 98'
MF 13 Germany Michael Ballack upward-facing green arrow 88'
FW 21 Ivory Coast Salomon Kalou upward-facing green arrow 72'
Manager:
Israel Avram Grant
Chelsea vs Tottenham 2008-02-24.svg
GK 1 England Paul Robinson
RB 28 Scotland Alan Hutton
CB 39 England Jonathan Woodgate
CB 26 England Ledley King (c)
LB 2 France Pascal Chimbonda downward-facing red arrow 61'
RM 25 England Aaron Lennon Yellow card 120+1'
CM 8 England Jermaine Jenas Yellow card 120+3'
CM 4 Ivory Coast Didier Zokora Yellow card 38'
LM 15 France Steed Malbranque downward-facing red arrow 75'
CF 10 Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane downward-facing red arrow 102'
CF 9 Bulgaria Dimitar Berbatov
Substitutes:
GK 12 Czech Republic Radek Černý
DF 5 France Younès Kaboul upward-facing green arrow 102'
MF 6 Finland Teemu Tainio Yellow card 116' upward-facing green arrow 75'
MF 22 England Tom Huddlestone upward-facing green arrow 61'
FW 23 England Darren Bent
Manager:
Spain Juande Ramos

Assistant referees:
Andrew Garratt (West Midlands)[2]
Martin Yerby (Kent)[2]
Fourth official:
Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)[2]
Reserve assistant referee:
David Bryan (Lincolnshire)[2]

Man of the match
Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)[1]

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.

Statistics[edit]

The Tottenham players celebrate after having won their first trophy in nine years.
Chelsea Tottenham
Total shots 17 14
Shots on target 11 7
Ball possession 52% 48%
Corner kicks 10 5
Fouls committed 17 20
Offsides 3 2
Yellow cards 2 4
Red cards 0 0

Source: ESPN[10]

Notes[edit]

  • 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]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Alan Hardaker Trophy Winners". The Football League. 26 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Carling Cup officials announced". football-league.co.uk. The Football League. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Stevenson, Jonathan (24 February 2008). "Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Local Weather". wunderground.com.
  5. ^ "League Cup Fixtures". BBC Sport. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  6. ^ "Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  7. ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (22 January 2008). "Tottenham 5–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  8. ^ Chowdhury, Saj (23 January 2008). "Everton 0–1 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  9. ^ a b Clubs in the Premier League receive a bye to the second or third round
  10. ^ "Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea: Woody nods winner". ESPNsoccernet. ESPN Inc. 24 February 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2012.