2007–08 Football League Cup

The 2007–08 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th staging of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The winners qualified for the first round of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, if not already qualified for European competitions.

2007–08 Football League Cup
Carling Cup, League Cup
Tottenham and Chelsea players lined up before the final
Tournament details
Country England
 Wales
Teams92
Defending championsChelsea
Final positions
ChampionsTottenham Hotspur (4th title)
Runner-upChelsea
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)Eduardo
Frank Lampard
Michael Mifsud
(4 goals)

The competition began on 13 August 2007, and ended with the final on 24 February 2008. Wembley Stadium in London hosted the final match for the first time since its major renovation completed.

The tournament was won by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat holders Chelsea 2–1 in the final, thanks to goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jonathan Woodgate. Didier Drogba scored the opener for Chelsea.

First round

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The 72 Football League clubs started in the first round, which was divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depended upon their finishing position in the 2006–07 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2007; Watford, Charlton Athletic (south) and Sheffield United (north) were the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge, were bottom seeds in north and south sections respectively.

  • On 13 June 2007 seeded clubs and unseeded clubs were paired off to create the first round draw.
  • Matches occurred during the week commencing 13 August 2007.
  • Extra time played when the scores were level after 90 minutes.
1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round

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The 36 winners from the first round joined the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competitions in the second round.

  • Round two was drawn on 16 August.
  • Matches occurred during the week commencing 28 August.
  • Extra time played when the scores were level after 90 minutes.
Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Plymouth Argyle 2–0 Doncaster Rovers 5,133
2 Southend United 2–0 Watford 5,554
3 Nottingham Forest A–A Leicester City
Original match abandoned due to serious player illness; rematch took place on 18 September.
Rematch Nottingham Forest2 2–3 Leicester City 15,519
4 Wigan Athletic 0–1 Hull City 5,440
5 Birmingham City 2–1 Hereford United 10,185
6 Carlisle United 0–2 Coventry City 5,744
7 Bristol Rovers 1–2 West Ham United 10,831
8 Derby County 1–1 Blackpool 8,658
2–2 after extra time – Blackpool won 7–6 on penalties
9 Rochdale 1–1 Norwich City 2,990
After extra time – Norwich won 4–3 on penalties
10 Portsmouth 3–0 Leeds United 8,502
11 Cardiff City 1–0 Leyton Orient 6,150
12 Milton Keynes Dons 2–2 Sheffield United 7,943
Sheffield United won 3–2 after extra time
13 Burnley 3–0 Oldham Athletic 7,317
14 Swansea City 0–0 Reading 12,027
Reading won 1–0 after extra time
15 Peterborough United 0–2 West Bromwich Albion 4,917
16 Shrewsbury Town 0–1 Fulham 6,223
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Morecambe 11,296
Morecambe won 3–1 after extra time
18 Middlesbrough 2–0 Northampton Town 11,686
19 Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 Hartlepool United 8,751
Sheffield Wednesday won 2–1 after extra time
20 Luton Town 3–0 Sunderland 4,401
21 Wrexham 0–5 Aston Villa 8,221
22 Charlton Athletic 4–3 Stockport County 8,022
23 Newcastle United 2–0 Barnsley 30,523
24 Bristol City 1–2 Manchester City 19,941

1 Score after 90 minutes
2 As Nottingham Forest were leading 1–0 at the time of the abandonment of the first meeting, they were given a "free goal" by Leicester City, who allowed Forest goalkeeper Paul Smith to dribble up the pitch uncontested and score straight from the kick-off.[1]

Third round

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The 24 winners from the second round joined the eight Premier League clubs participating in European competitions in the third round. The draw was made on 1 September.[2] Matches were played on 25 September and 26 September.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Blackburn Rovers 3–0 Birmingham City 9,205
2 Reading 2–4 Liverpool 23,563
3 Manchester United 0–2 Coventry City 74,055
4 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Middlesbrough 32,280
5 Hull City 0–4 Chelsea 23,543
6 Blackpool 1–1 Southend United 5,022
Blackpool won 2–1 after extra time
7 West Ham United 1–0 Plymouth Argyle 25,774
8 Arsenal 2–0 Newcastle United 60,004
9 Luton Town 1–1 Charlton Athletic 4,534
Luton Town won 3–1 after extra time
10 Manchester City 1–0 Norwich City 20,938
11 Sheffield United 5–0 Morecambe 8,854
12 Sheffield Wednesday 0–3 Everton 16,463
13 Fulham 1–1 Bolton Wanderers 10,500
Bolton Wanderers won 2–1 after extra time
14 Burnley 0–1 Portsmouth 8,202
15 Aston Villa 0–1 Leicester City 25,956
16 West Bromwich Albion 2–4 Cardiff City 14,085

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

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The draw for the fourth round was made on 29 September 2007 and matches were played in the week commencing 29 October.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Luton Town 0–0 Everton 8,944
Everton won 1–0 after extra time
2 Portsmouth 1–2 Blackburn Rovers 11,788
3 Chelsea 4–3 Leicester City 40,037
4 Sheffield United 0–3 Arsenal 16,971
5 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Blackpool 32,196
6 Bolton Wanderers 0–1 Manchester City 15,510
7 Coventry City 1–2 West Ham United 23,968
8 Liverpool 2–1 Cardiff City 41,780

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

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The draw for the fifth round was made on 3 November 2007. Matches were played in the week beginning 17 December 2007, with the exception of the match between West Ham United and Everton, which was played on 12 December due to Everton's commitments in the UEFA Cup.

West Ham United1–2Everton
Cole   12' Osman   40'
Yakubu   88'
Attendance: 28,777

Manchester City0–2Tottenham Hotspur
Report Defoe   5'
Malbranque   82'

Chelsea2–0Liverpool
Lampard   59'
Shevchenko   90'
Report

Blackburn Rovers2–3
(a.e.t.)
Arsenal
Santa Cruz   42', 60' Diaby   6'
Eduardo   29', 104'
Attendance: 16,207

Semi-finals

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The semi-final draw was made on 19 December 2007 at 22:00 GMT. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 9 January and 21 January 2008.

First leg

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Chelsea2–1Everton
Wright-Phillips   26'
Lescott   90+2' (o.g.)
Yakubu   64'

Arsenal1–1Tottenham Hotspur
Walcott   79' Report Jenas   37'
Attendance: 53,136
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Second leg

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Everton0–1Chelsea
J. Cole   69'
Attendance: 37,086
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)

Chelsea won 3–1 on aggregate


Tottenham Hotspur5–1Arsenal
Jenas   3'
Bendtner   27' (o.g.)
Keane   48'
Lennon   60'
Malbranque   90+4'
Report Adebayor   70'

Tottenham won 6–2 on aggregate

Final

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The 2008 League Cup Final was played on 24 February 2008 and was the first to be played at Wembley Stadium since 2000.

Chelsea1–2 (a.e.t.)Tottenham Hotspur
Drogba   39' (Report) Berbatov   70' (pen.)
Woodgate   94'
Attendance: 87,660

References

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  1. ^ "Forest given 'free goal' by Foxes". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  2. ^ "City to face West Brom in the cup". BBC Sport. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2008.