| Event | 2007–08 Scottish League Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Afterextra time. Rangers won 3–2 onpenalties. | |||||||
| Date | 16 March 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park,Glasgow | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Kris Boyd | ||||||
| Referee | Kenny Clark | ||||||
| Attendance | 50,019 | ||||||
←2007 2009 → | |||||||
The2008 Scottish League Cup final was played on 16 March 2008[1] atHampden Park inGlasgow and was the 61st Scottish League Cup final. The final was contested byDundee United, who beatAberdeen 4–1 in the semi-final,[2] andRangers, who beatHearts 2–0.[3] The two sides had last met in a League Cup final in the1984–85 season with Rangers winning 1–0 on that occasion. The previous year's winners wereHibernian, who beatKilmarnock 5–1 in the2007 final[4] but they were knocked out in thethird round byMotherwell. 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 onpenalties after the match had ended in a 2–2 draw afterextra time.
| 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 |
| 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 |
Dundee United managerCraig Levein made four changes after the side's midweek goalless draw atCeltic.Noel Hunt returned to the starting line-up along withChristian Kalvenes,Willo Flood andMorgaro Gomis. Out wentDavid Robertson andCraig Conway, who dropped to the bench and cup-tied duoDanny Grainger andJames O'Brien.
Rangers were without the suspended duoNacho Novo andCharlie Adam, who were replaced byLee McCulloch andChris Burke.
Neither team looked better than the other during a fairly uneventful first 10 minutes. in the 18th minute the Rangers captainBarry 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 byNoel Hunt was saved byAllan McGregor but the ball wasn't cleared and Hunt somehow managed to get the ball over the line despite the best efforts ofSteven Davis. United could have been two goals in front moments later asSaša Papac almost scored an own goal with a pass back butCarlos Cuéllar was there to clear it off the line.
Before the second half got underway, Rangers managerWalter Smith made a substitution withmidfielderBrahim Hemdani making way forStrikerJean-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 backChristian Kalvenes in the box, but refereeKenny Clark inexplicably waved play on. Walter Smith made another substitution in the 61st minute when theleft back Papac was replaced by StrikerKris 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 intoExtra time.
The first half of extra time got underway with Rangers looking the better team, however with just 5 minutes playedMark 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 aPenalty shootout, Boyd scored the winning penalty after a miss byLee Wilkie.
| Dundee United | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | Rangers |
|---|---|---|
Hunt 34'de Vries 95' | Report | Boyd85',113' |
| Penalties | ||
Flood Conway  de Vries Robertson Wilkie | 2–3 | DarchevilleWhittakerDavisMcCullochBoyd |
       Dundee United |   Rangers |
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| 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 |
Played between same clubs:
