 | |||||||
| Event | 2007–08 Football League Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Afterextra time | |||||||
| Date | 24 February 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Mark Halsey (Lancashire)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 87,660[3] | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy 13 °C (55 °F)[4] | ||||||
←2007 2009 → | |||||||
The2008 Football League Cup Final was afootball match played on 24 February 2008.[5] It was the firstLeague Cup Final to be played at the newWembley Stadium, and the first to be played in England since theold Wembley was demolished in 2000. The defending champions wereChelsea, who beatArsenal in the2007 Final atCardiff'sMillennium Stadium.[6] The final was contested byTottenham Hotspur, who beat Arsenal 6–2 on aggregate in the semi-final,[7] and Chelsea, who beatEverton 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 free kick fromDidier Drogba. This goal made Drogba the first player to score in three League Cup Finals, having scored in 2005 and 2007. In the 68th minute, Tottenham were awarded a penalty afterWayne Bridge handled the ball;Dimitar Berbatov converted the spot-kick and equalised. Three minutes into extra time,Jonathan Woodgate headed aJermaine Jenas free kick ontoPetr Čech, who in turn pushed it straight back onto Woodgate's head to score the winning goal.
The win was important for Tottenham as not only did they end anine year trophy drought, but the win secured the club qualification for the following season'sUEFA Cup, something they would not have achieved in the Premier League, as they finished 11th. This would be the last major trophy Tottenham would win until the2025 UEFA Europa League Final, which ended their 17-year trophy drought. For Chelsea, it was the second of four competitions in which they would finish as runners-up that season, after they lost toManchester United in theCommunity Shield and ended up finishing as runners-up to the same team in thePremier League and theUEFA Champions League. The two teams would meet again in the2015 League Cup final, in which Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0.
| Chelsea | Round | Tottenham | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Score | Opponent | Score | |
| Hull City (A) | 4–0 | Round 3 | Middlesbrough (H) | 2–0 |
| Leicester City (H) | 4–3 | Round 4 | Blackpool (H) | 2–0 |
| Liverpool (H) | 2–0 | Round 5 | Manchester City (A) | 2–0 |
| Everton (H) | 2–1 | Semi-finals | Arsenal (A) | 1–1 |
| Everton (A) | 1–0 | Arsenal (H) | 5–1 | |
| Chelsea won 3–1 on aggregate | Tottenham Hotspur won 6–2 on aggregate | |||
As Premier League teams involved in UEFA competitions, both Chelsea and Tottenham entered the League Cup in the third round. Tottenham received a home draw against Middlesbrough, while Chelsea were drawn away to Hull City.[9] Chelsea won their tie 4–0;Scott Sinclair opened the scoring with his first goal for the club in the first half, while a brace fromSalomon Kalou either side of another fromSteve Sidwell completed the win.[10] Meanwhile, second-half goals fromGareth Bale andTom Huddlestone sent Tottenham through to the next round.[11] Both teams were drawn at home in the fourth round; Chelsea would faceLeicester City, while Tottenham would take onBlackpool.[12] Chelsea had to come from behind twice to beat Leicester;Frank Lampard had given them a 2–1 half-time lead afterGareth McAuley's early goal for Leicester, butDJ Campbell andCarl Cort put the visitors in front with two goals in the space of five second-half minutes.Andriy Shevchenko equalised for Chelsea in the 87th minute, before Lampard completed his hat-trick – and the Chelsea victory – in the final minute of the match.[13] For Tottenham,Robbie Keane opened the scoring in the first half against Blackpool;Pascal Chimbonda doubled the lead in the second half, and the away side were unable to find a response.[14] Chelsea were drawn at home again for the quarter-finals, this time againstLiverpool, while Tottenham faced an away tie againstManchester City.[15] Tottenham took an early lead throughJermain Defoe in their quarter-final at theCity of Manchester Stadium, but a red card forDidier Zokora in the 20th minute allowed City back into the game; however, Spurs secured victory and a place in the quarter-finals whenSteed Malbranque scored in the 82nd minute.[16] The next day, Chelsea had to wait almost an hour to open the scoring against Liverpool atStamford Bridge, Frank Lampard scoring his fourth goal of the competition;Peter Crouch was sent off for the visitors a minute later, and Shevchenko confirmed the win in the final minute.[17]
In the semi-finals, which would be played over two legs, Tottenham were drawn against theirNorth London rivalsArsenal for the second season in a row, while Chelsea were paired withEverton, thecity rivals of their opponents in the previous round.[18] Tottenham were held in their first leg at theEmirates Stadium, thanks to a deflected goal byTheo Walcott; afterJermaine Jenas opened the scoring for Spurs in the first half, Walcott equalised when the ball ricocheted back off him in the midst of a challenge byLee Young-pyo before looping over Tottenham goalkeeperRadek Černý.[19] In the second leg atWhite Hart Lane, there was no doubt about the result, as Tottenham ran out 5–1 winners, their first victory over Arsenal in any competition since November 1999. Jenas was again on the scoresheet inside three minutes, before an own goal fromNicklas Bendtner gave Spurs a 2–0 half-time lead; Robbie Keane andAaron Lennon doubled their advantage before Arsenal scored their first goal throughEmmanuel Adebayor, but Malbranque scored in the final minute to secure a 6–2 aggregate victory.[20] Chelsea took the advantage in the first leg of their semi-final at Stamford Bridge despiteJohn Obi Mikel's red card thanks to an own goal byJoleon Lescott in second-half injury time;Shaun Wright-Phillips opened the scoring midway through the first half, butYakubu equalised in the 64th minute, only for Lescott to head a cross from Wright-Phillips into his own net.[21] In the second leg atGoodison Park,Joe Cole scored the only goal of the game in the 69th minute, giving Chelsea a 3–1 aggregate victory and sending them to their third League Cup final in the last four seasons.[22]
          Chelsea |  Tottenham Hotspur |
|  |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assistant referees: Man of the match | Match rules
|
| 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[23]
