2009 Football League Cup Final
Event2008–09 Football League Cup
Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur
0 0
After extra time
Manchester United won 4–1 on penalties
Date1 March 2009
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Man of the MatchBen Foster (Manchester United)[1]
RefereeChris Foy (Merseyside)
Attendance88,217
WeatherMostly cloudy
11 °C (52 °F)[2]
← 2008
2010 →

The 2009 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2008–09 Football League Cup, the 49th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and The Football League. The match was played at Wembley Stadium on 1 March 2009, and was contested by Tottenham Hotspur, who won the competition in 2008, and Manchester United,[3] who last won the competition in 2006. The two joint-top goalscorers played for each of the finalists. Roman Pavlyuchenko of Tottenham Hotspur, who scored in every match in which he played in the tournament up to the final, and Manchester United's Carlos Tevez; both players had six goals each.

Manchester United won 4–1 on penalties, after the match ended as a goalless draw in normal time. United converted all four of their penalties, while Tottenham missed two of their three. It was only the second time that the League Cup Final had been decided by a penalty shootout.[4]

The man of the match was Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, who became the first goalkeeper since Jerzy Dudek in 2003 to win the Alan Hardaker Award.[5]

Retrospectively, the result of this game would have significant implications for the following season's UEFA Europa League. In winning the tournament, the qualifying spot for the League Cup went to the seventh-placed team in the Premier League by default, as Manchester United would later win the League and therefore qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Fulham, who finished seventh in the league, went on to progress to the final of the 2009–10 Europa League. Had Tottenham won the League Cup, they would have qualified in Fulham's place.

Road to Wembley

See also: 2008–09 Football League Cup
Manchester United Round Tottenham Hotspur
Opponent Result Opponent Result
Middlesbrough (H) 3–1 Third round[6] Newcastle United (A) 2–1
Queens Park Rangers (H) 1–0 Fourth round Liverpool (H) 4–2
Blackburn Rovers (H) 5–3 Fifth round Watford (A) 2–1
Derby County 0–1 (A) Semi-final Burnley 4–1 (H)
4–2 (H) 2–3 (A)
Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate Tottenham Hotspur won 6–4 on aggregate

Match

Team selection

Sir Alex Ferguson promised before the game that he would give places in the Manchester United starting line-up to the young players who had played a part in getting them to the final, with Darron Gibson in the centre of midfield and Danny Welbeck up front.[7] He also said he would make several changes from the team that drew away to Internazionale in the Champions League earlier in the week, citing the need to rotate players in the modern game.[7] Goalkeeper Ben Foster, who had played in the fifth round against Blackburn Rovers and the second leg of the semi-final against Derby County, expressed a desire to play in the final as a way of making up for an injury-beset previous 12 months.[8]

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp named Heurelho Gomes as his goalkeeper for the final, despite the Brazilian having made several high-profile errors, as the club's number-one 'keeper, Carlo Cudicini, was cup-tied; Cudicini was signed from Chelsea during the January transfer window and had appeared for the Blues in the League Cup earlier in the season.[9] Defender Jonathan Woodgate, who scored the winning goal in the 2008 final, suffered a head wound in a 2–1 win over Hull City the week before the game; he declared himself fit the next day, but was ultimately left out of the squad.[10] Striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, however, was selected for the game, despite his earlier fears that he might miss out if Redknapp opted to play Darren Bent as a lone striker;[11] in the end, Pavlyuchenko and Bent started together up front.

Details

Manchester United0–0 (a.e.t.)Tottenham Hotspur
Report
Penalties
Giggs soccer ball with check mark
Tevez soccer ball with check mark
Ronaldo soccer ball with check mark
Anderson soccer ball with check mark		 4–1 soccer ball with red X O'Hara
soccer ball with check mark Ćorluka
soccer ball with red X Bentley
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 88,217
Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)[12]
Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur
GK 12 England Ben Foster
RB 22 Republic of Ireland John O'Shea Yellow card 57' downward-facing red arrow 76'
CB 5 England Rio Ferdinand (c)
CB 23 Northern Ireland Jonny Evans
LB 3 France Patrice Evra
RM 7 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Yellow card 67'
CM 28 Republic of Ireland Darron Gibson downward-facing red arrow 91'
CM 18 England Paul Scholes Yellow card 108'
LM 17 Portugal Nani
CF 19 England Danny Welbeck downward-facing red arrow 56'
CF 32 Argentina Carlos Tevez
Substitutes:
GK 29 Poland Tomasz Kuszczak
DF 15 Serbia Nemanja Vidić upward-facing green arrow 76'
DF 42 England Richard Eckersley
MF 8 Brazil Anderson upward-facing green arrow 56'
MF 11 Wales Ryan Giggs upward-facing green arrow 91'
MF 13 South Korea Park Ji-sung
MF 34 Brazil Rodrigo Possebon
Manager:
Scotland Sir Alex Ferguson
GK 1 Brazil Heurelho Gomes
RB 22 Croatia Vedran Ćorluka
CB 20 England Michael Dawson
CB 26 England Ledley King (c)
LB 32 Cameroon Benoît Assou-Ekotto
RM 7 England Aaron Lennon downward-facing red arrow 102'
CM 8 England Jermaine Jenas downward-facing red arrow 98'
CM 4 Ivory Coast Didier Zokora
LM 14 Croatia Luka Modrić
CF 10 England Darren Bent
CF 9 Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko downward-facing red arrow 65'
Substitutes:
GK 27 England Ben Alnwick
DF 3 Wales Gareth Bale upward-facing green arrow 98'
DF 16 Wales Chris Gunter
MF 5 England David Bentley upward-facing green arrow 102'
MF 6 England Tom Huddlestone
MF 19 Morocco Adel Taarabt
MF 24 England Jamie O'Hara upward-facing green arrow 65'
Manager:
England Harry Redknapp

Match officials

Man of the match

Match rules

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

Statistics

Statistic Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur
Total shots 23 12
Shots on target 10 7
Ball possession 53% 47%
Corner kicks 9 4
Fouls committed 12 16
Offsides 2 2
Yellow cards 3 0
Red cards 0 0

Source: ESPN[13]

References

  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. ^ "Weather History for London, United Kingdom". wunderground.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Burnley face holders Spurs in cup". BBC Sport. 6 December 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Man Utd 0–0 Tottenham (aet)". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Carling Cup Final report". carlingcup.premiumtv.co.uk. 1 March 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  6. ^ Clubs competing in UEFA competitions receive a bye to the third round
  7. ^ a b Taylor, Daniel (28 February 2009). "Fergie will continue to draw from the fountain of youth". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  8. ^ Lynch, Robin (27 February 2009). "Foster dreams of Wembley ending to injury nightmare". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  9. ^ Hytner, David (23 February 2009). "Redknapp puts his faith in Gomes for Carling Cup final". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Woodgate declares himself fit for Carling Cup final". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  11. ^ Hytner, David (24 February 2009). "Pavlyuchenko concerned about starting for Spurs in the Carling Cup final". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Officials named for Carling Cup Final". football-league.co.uk. The Football League. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  13. ^ "Spurs suffer Wembley woe". ESPNsoccernet. ESPN Inc. 1 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
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