2008–09 Football League Cup

The 2008–09 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th season 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 third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, if not already qualified for European competitions.

2008–09 Football League Cup
Carling Cup, League Cup
The logo of the League Cup from 2003–04 to 2008–09
Tournament details
Country England
 Wales
Teams92
Defending championsTottenham Hotspur
Final positions
ChampionsManchester United (3rd title)
Runner-upTottenham Hotspur
Tournament statistics
Matches played93
Goals scored290 (3.12 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Nathan Ellington
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Carlos Tevez
(6 goals)

Manchester United won the competition by defeating holders Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the final on 1 March 2009.

First round

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The draw for the first round took place on 13 June 2008, with matches being played two months later in the week beginning 11 August 2008.[1]

The 72 Football League clubs competed from 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 depend upon their finishing position in the 2007–08 season.

1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round

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Twelve Premier League teams – including the eleven that were not involved in European competitions – entered at this stage, along with the winners from the first round. The draw for the second round took place on 13 August 2008, and the matches were played in the week beginning 25 August 2008,[2] with the exception of Manchester City's game against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was played on 24 September.[3]

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Ipswich Town 2 – 1 Colchester United 17,084
2 Coventry City 2 – 2 Newcastle United 19,249
Newcastle United won 3 – 2 after extra time
3 Hartlepool United 1 – 1 West Bromwich Albion 3,387
Hartlepool United won 3 – 1 after extra time
4 West Ham United 1 – 1 Macclesfield Town 10,055
West Ham United won 4 – 1 after extra time
5 Huddersfield Town 1 – 2 Sheffield United 15,189
6 Cardiff City 2 – 1 Milton Keynes Dons 6,334
7 Swansea City 1 – 1 Hull City 8,622
Swansea City won 2 – 1 after extra time
8 Rotherham United 0 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5,404
0 – 0 after extra time – Rotherham United won 4 – 3 on penalties
9 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 – 1 Manchester City 8,729
2 – 2 after extra time – Brighton & Hove Albion won 5 – 3 on penalties
10 Reading 5 – 1 Luton Town 7,498
11 Blackburn Rovers 4 – 1 Grimsby Town 8,379
12 Wigan Athletic 4 – 0 Notts County 4,100
13 Leeds United 4 – 0 Crystal Palace 10,765
14 Crewe Alexandra 2 – 1 Bristol City 3,227
15 Middlesbrough 5 – 1 Yeovil Town 15,651
16 Fulham 3 – 2 Leicester City 7,584
17 Queens Park Rangers 4 – 0 Carlisle United 8,021
18 Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Sunderland 9,198
Sunderland won 2 – 1 after extra time
19 Burnley 3 – 0 Oldham Athletic 5,528
20 Southampton 2 – 0 Birmingham City 11,331
21 Bolton Wanderers 1 – 2 Northampton Town 7,136
22 Watford 1 – 1 Darlington 5,236
Watford won 2 – 1 after extra time
23 Preston North End 0 – 1 Derby County 8,037
24 Cheltenham Town 2 – 3 Stoke City 3,600

1 Score after 90 minutes

Third round

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Eight teams involved in European competition entered at this stage along with the winners from the second round. Since nine English teams qualified for European competition in 2008, it was initially unclear precisely which eight teams would automatically enter the third round. Either Aston Villa, who had entered into European competition via the UEFA Intertoto Cup, or Manchester City, who qualified for the UEFA Cup via the UEFA Fair Play ranking would enter in the third round with the other entering in the second round instead. On 29 July 2008, it was announced that Aston Villa would enter the 2008–09 Carling Cup at the third round stage after reaching the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.[4]

The draw for the third round was held on 30 August 2008,[5] and the matches were played on Tuesday, 23 September and Wednesday, 24 September 2008, with the exception of the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Derby County, which was played on 4 November.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Arsenal 6 – 0 Sheffield United 56,632
2 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 – 4 Derby County 6,625
3 Burnley 1 – 0 Fulham 7,119
4 Portsmouth 0 – 4 Chelsea 15,339
5 Blackburn Rovers 1 – 0 Everton 14,366
6 Rotherham United 3 – 1 Southampton 5,147
7 Swansea City 1 – 0 Cardiff City 17,411
8 Ipswich Town 1 – 4 Wigan Athletic 13,803
9 Stoke City 2 – 2 Reading 9,141
2 – 2 after extra time – Stoke City won 4 – 3 on penalties
10 Leeds United 3 – 2 Hartlepool United 14,599
11 Watford 1 – 0 West Ham United 12,914
12 Manchester United 3 – 1 Middlesbrough 53,729
13 Liverpool 2 – 1 Crewe Alexandra 28,591
14 Aston Villa 0 – 1 Queens Park Rangers 21,541
15 Sunderland 2 – 2 Northampton Town 21,082
2 – 2 after extra time – Sunderland won 4 – 3 on penalties
16 Newcastle United 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur 20,577

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

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The fourth round draw took place on Saturday, 27 September,[6] and the matches were played in the week commencing 10 November 2008.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Sunderland 1 – 2 Blackburn Rovers 18,555
2 Arsenal 3 – 0 Wigan Athletic 59,665
3 Chelsea 1 – 1 Burnley 41,369
1 – 1 after extra time – Burnley won 5 – 4 on penalties
4 Swansea City 0 – 1 Watford 9,549
5 Manchester United 1 – 0 Queens Park Rangers 62,539
6 Stoke City 2 – 0 Rotherham United 15,458
7 Derby County 2 – 1 Leeds United 18,540
8 Tottenham Hotspur 4 – 2 Liverpool 33,242

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

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The fifth round draw took place on Saturday, 15 November[7] and the matches were played week in the commencing 1 December 2008.

Burnley2–0Arsenal
McDonald   6', 57' Report
Turf Moor, Burnley
Attendance: 19,405
Stoke City0–1Derby County
Report Ellington   90+4' (pen.)
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
Attendance: 22,034
Watford1–2Tottenham Hotspur
Priskin   13' Report Pavlyuchenko   45+2' (pen.)
Bent   76'
Vicarage Road, Watford
Attendance: 16,501
Manchester United5–3Blackburn Rovers
Tevez   35', 50' (pen.), 54', 90+4'
Nani   40'
Report McCarthy   48', 90+2'
Derbyshire   84'
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 53,997

Semi-finals

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The semi-final draw took place on Saturday, 6 December 2008.[8] The first leg matches were played on Tuesday, 6 January 2009 and Wednesday, 7 January 2009, while the second legs were played on Tuesday, 20 January 2009 and Wednesday, 21 January 2009.

First leg

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Tottenham Hotspur4–1Burnley
Dawson   46'
O'Hara   52'
Pavlyuchenko   65'
Duff   68' (o.g.)
Report Paterson   15'
Attendance: 31,377
Derby County1–0Manchester United
Commons   30' Report
Pride Park, Derby
Attendance: 30,194

Second leg

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Manchester United4–2Derby County
Nani   16'
O'Shea   22'
Tevez   34'
Ronaldo   87' (pen.)
Report Barnes   79' (pen.), 90+1'
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 73,374
Referee: Mike Dean (Cheshire)

Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.

Burnley3–2 (a.e.t.)Tottenham Hotspur
Blake   33'
McCann   73'
Rodriguez   88'
Report Pavlyuchenko   118'
Defoe   120'
Turf Moor, Burnley
Attendance: 19,533

Tottenham Hotspur won 6–4 on aggregate.

Final

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The final was played at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday, 1 March 2009.

Manchester United0–0 (a.e.t.)Tottenham Hotspur
Report
Penalties
Giggs  
Tevez  
Ronaldo  
Anderson  
4–1   O'Hara
  Ćorluka
  Bentley
Attendance: 88,217

Top scorers

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The top scorers in the 2008–09 Football League Cup are as follows:[10]

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Nathan Ellington Derby County 6
Roman Pavlyuchenko Tottenham Hotspur 6
Carlos Tevez Manchester United 6
4 Martin Paterson Burnley 5
5 Jermaine Beckford Leeds United 4
James Henry Reading 4
Carlos Vela Arsenal 4
Emmanuel Villa Derby County 4
9 Henri Camara Wigan Athletic 3
Matt Derbyshire Blackburn Rovers 3
Robert Earnshaw Nottingham Forest 3
Emmanuel Ledesma Queens Park Rangers 3
Nani Manchester United 3
Joel Porter Hartlepool United 3

References

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  1. ^ "2008/09 CARLING CUP ROUND ONE DRAW". The Football League. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Draw for Carling Cup second round". BBC Sport. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Man City ease fixture congestion". BBC Sport. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Carling Cup Draw". AVFC. 29 July 2008. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Carling Cup 3rd Round Draw". ntfc.co.uk. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Tottenham face Liverpool in cup". BBC Sport. 27 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  7. ^ "Burnley will face Arsenal in cup". BBC Sport. 15 November 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  8. ^ "Burnley face holders Spurs in cup". BBC Sport. 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "English Carling Cup – Top Scorers – 2008". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
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