2009 Football League Cup Final

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.

2009 Football League Cup Final

Event	2008–09 Football League Cup
Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur 0 0
After extra time Manchester United won 4–1 on penalties
Date	1 March 2009
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Ben Foster (Manchester United)[1]
Referee	Chris Foy (Merseyside)
Attendance	88,217
Weather	Mostly cloudy 11 °C (52 °F)[2]

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

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

1 March 2009

15:00 GMT

Manchester United	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Tottenham Hotspur
	Report
Penalties
Giggs Tevez Ronaldo Anderson	4–1	O'Hara Ćorluka Bentley

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 88,217

Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)[12]

Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur

GK 12 Ben Foster RB 22 John O'Shea  57'  76' CB 5 Rio Ferdinand (c) CB 23 Jonny Evans LB 3 Patrice Evra RM 7 Cristiano Ronaldo  67' CM 28 Darron Gibson  91' CM 18 Paul Scholes  108' LM 17 Nani CF 19 Danny Welbeck  56' CF 32 Carlos Tevez Substitutes: GK 29 Tomasz Kuszczak DF 15 Nemanja Vidić  76' DF 42 Richard Eckersley MF 8 Anderson  56' MF 11 Ryan Giggs  91' MF 13 Park Ji-sung MF 34 Rodrigo Possebon Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson

GK 1 Heurelho Gomes RB 22 Vedran Ćorluka CB 20 Michael Dawson CB 26 Ledley King (c) LB 32 Benoît Assou-Ekotto RM 7 Aaron Lennon  102' CM 8 Jermaine Jenas  98' CM 4 Didier Zokora LM 14 Luka Modrić CF 10 Darren Bent CF 9 Roman Pavlyuchenko  65' Substitutes: GK 27 Ben Alnwick DF 3 Gareth Bale  98' DF 16 Chris Gunter MF 5 David Bentley  102' MF 6 Tom Huddlestone MF 19 Adel Taarabt MF 24 Jamie O'Hara  65' Manager: Harry Redknapp

Match officials Assistant referees: Peter Kirkup (Northamptonshire) Andy Butler (Lancashire) Fourth official: Andre Marriner (West Midlands) Reserve assistant referee: Robert Pollock (Merseyside) Man of the match Ben Foster (Manchester United)[1]

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. "Alan Hardaker Trophy Winners". The Football League. 26 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
2. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EGLL/2009/3/1/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
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. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
6. Clubs competing in UEFA competitions receive a bye to the third round
7. 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. Retrieved 8 May 2012.