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 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.

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

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

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
1Plymouth Argyle2–0Doncaster Rovers5,133
2Southend United2–0Watford5,554
3Nottingham ForestA–ALeicester City
Original match abandoned due to serious player illness; rematch took place on 18 September.
RematchNottingham Forest22–3Leicester City15,519
4Wigan Athletic0–1Hull City5,440
5Birmingham City2–1Hereford United10,185
6Carlisle United0–2Coventry City5,744
7Bristol Rovers1–2West Ham United10,831
8Derby County1–1Blackpool8,658
2–2 after extra time – Blackpool won 7–6 on penalties
9Rochdale1–1Norwich City2,990
After extra time – Norwich won 4–3 on penalties
10Portsmouth3–0Leeds United8,502
11Cardiff City1–0Leyton Orient6,150
12Milton Keynes Dons2–2Sheffield United7,943
Sheffield United won 3–2 after extra time
13Burnley3–0Oldham Athletic7,317
14Swansea City0–0Reading12,027
Reading won 1–0 after extra time
15Peterborough United0–2West Bromwich Albion4,917
16Shrewsbury Town0–1Fulham6,223
17Wolverhampton Wanderers1–1Morecambe11,296
Morecambe won 3–1 after extra time
18Middlesbrough2–0Northampton Town11,686
19Sheffield Wednesday1–1Hartlepool United8,751
Sheffield Wednesday won 2–1 after extra time
20Luton Town3–0Sunderland4,401
21Wrexham0–5Aston Villa8,221
22Charlton Athletic4–3Stockport County8,022
23Newcastle United2–0Barnsley30,523
24Bristol City1–2Manchester City19,941

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

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
1Blackburn Rovers3–0Birmingham City9,205
2Reading2–4Liverpool23,563
3Manchester United0–2Coventry City74,055
4Tottenham Hotspur2–0Middlesbrough32,280
5Hull City0–4Chelsea23,543
6Blackpool1–1Southend United5,022
Blackpool won 2–1 after extra time
7West Ham United1–0Plymouth Argyle25,774
8Arsenal2–0Newcastle United60,004
9Luton Town1–1Charlton Athletic4,534
Luton Town won 3–1 after extra time
10Manchester City1–0Norwich City20,938
11Sheffield United5–0Morecambe8,854
12Sheffield Wednesday0–3Everton16,463
13Fulham1–1Bolton Wanderers10,500
Bolton Wanderers won 2–1 after extra time
14Burnley0–1Portsmouth8,202
15Aston Villa0–1Leicester City25,956
16West Bromwich Albion2–4Cardiff City14,085

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

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
1Luton Town0–0Everton8,944
Everton won 1–0 after extra time
2Portsmouth1–2Blackburn Rovers11,788
3Chelsea4–3Leicester City40,037
4Sheffield United0–3Arsenal16,971
5Tottenham Hotspur2–0Blackpool32,196
6Bolton Wanderers0–1Manchester City15,510
7Coventry City1–2West Ham United23,968
8Liverpool2–1Cardiff City41,780

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

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
Chelsea2–0Liverpool
Lampard 59'
Shevchenko 90'		 Report
Attendance: 41,366
Blackburn Rovers2–3
(a.e.t.)		Arsenal
Santa Cruz 42', 60' Diaby 6'
Eduardo 29', 104'
Attendance: 16,207

Semi-finals

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

Chelsea2–1Everton
Wright-Phillips 26'
Lescott 90+2' (o.g.)		 Yakubu 64'
Attendance: 41,178
Arsenal1–1Tottenham Hotspur
Walcott 79' Report Jenas 37'
Attendance: 53,136
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Second leg

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'
Attendance: 35,979

Tottenham won 6–2 on aggregate

Final

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

  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.
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