| Country | England & Wales | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Runner-up | Chelsea | ||
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The 2007–08 Football League Cup was the 48th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling.
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 2000.
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.
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The 72 Football League clubs compete from the First Round, which is divided into North and South sections. Each section is divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend 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) are the top seeds, and the clubs newly-promoted to the Football League, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge, are bottom seeds in north and south sections respectively.
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1 Score after 90 minutes
The 36 winners from the First Round joined the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition in Round Two.
| 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; re-match 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 | 14,541 |
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]
The 24 winners from the Second Round joined the eight Premier League clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. 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
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
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 European commitments.
| 12 December 2007 19:45 |
West Ham United | 1 – 2 | Everton | Boleyn Ground, London Attendance: 28,777 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole 12' | Osman 40' Yakubu 88' |
| 18 December 2007 19:45 |
Manchester City | 0 – 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester Attendance: 38,564 Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defoe 5' Malbranque 82' |
| 19 December 2007 19:45 |
Chelsea | 2 – 0 | Liverpool | Stamford Bridge, London Attendance: 41,366 Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lampard 59' Shevchenko 90' |
| 18 December 2007 20:00 |
Blackburn Rovers | 2 – 3 (a.e.t.) |
Arsenal | Ewood Park, Blackburn Attendance: 16,207 Referee: Mike Riley (West Yorkshire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz 42', 60' | Diaby 6' Eduardo 29', 104' |
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.
| 8 January 2008 19:45 |
Chelsea | 2 – 1 | Everton | Stamford Bridge, London Attendance: 41,178 Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright-Phillips 26' Lescott 90+2' (o.g.) |
Yakubu 64' |
| 9 January 2008 19:45 |
Arsenal | 1 – 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | Emirates Stadium, London Attendance: 53,136 Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walcott 79' | Jenas 37' |
| 23 January 2008 20:00 |
Everton | 0 – 1 | Chelsea | Goodison Park, Liverpool Attendance: 37,086 Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Cole 69' |
Chelsea won 3–1 on aggregate
| 22 January 2008 20:00 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 5 – 1 | Arsenal | White Hart Lane, London Attendance: 35,979 Referee: Howard Webb (Sheffield & Hallamshire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jenas 3' Bendtner 27' (o.g.) Keane 48' Lennon 60' Malbranque 90+4' |
Adebayor 70' |
Tottenham won 6–2 on aggregate
The 2008 Carling Cup Final was played on 24 February 2008 and was the first League Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium since 2000.
| 24 February 2008 15:00 |
Chelsea | 1 – 2 (a.e.t.) |
Tottenham Hotspur | Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 87,660 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogba 39' | (Report) | Berbatov 70' (pen.) Woodgate 94' |
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