Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United feature in our pick of the best Carling Cup Finals since the turn of the millennium.
Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City – 2011
This is a final remembered for all the wrong reasons by Arsenal fans. Winners Birmingham will also have mixed views on it after the way their season turned out, but no-one can take away the moment of glory when they won the trophy. The game seemed to be drifting towards extra time when an innocuous long ball was floated into the penalty area. Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny had a comedy mix-up and Obafemi Martins tapped in the winner to send the Birmingham fans wild. The result went down as one of the great Carling Cup upsets.
Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur – 2008
Avram Grant’s Chelsea side were big favourites to win the trophy for a second successive year, but Tottenham had other ideas. Juande Ramos’s side went into the interval 1-0 down after a Didier Drogba strike. Spurs fought back, with Dimitar Berbatov netting a crucial equaliser from the penalty spot in the 70th minute. The match went into extra-time, and Petr Cech was unable to keep out Jonathan Woodgate’s header, which game Spurs a decisive 2-1 lead. Spurs finished 11th in the league so the cup win was an important boost.
Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool – 2005
This clash will go down as one of the greatest domestic cup finals in recent history. Jon Arne Riise gave Liverpool a first minute lead, which they clung on for dearly until Steven Gerrard scored an unfortunate own goal with 10 minutes to go, which led to Jose Mourinho being ordered to the stands for over-excessive celebration. In extra-time Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the lead, before Mateja Kezman struck a rare goal, which turned out to be the winner. Antonio Nunez scored a consolation for Liverpool, but it was not enough to stop Mourinho winning his first trophy in English football.
Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United – 2003
This match was hotly contested between the two rivals, with United fans left trying to erase it from their memories. Steven Gerrard scored the first goal of the game in the first half, with a shot which took a big deflection of David Beckham, making what would be his last final appearance for United. Keane and Veron were outplayed by Gerrard and Hammann and Liverpool stayed dominant, before they netted a second in the 86th minute. The scorer? Michael Owen.
Liverpool 1-1 Birmingham City, Liverpool win on pens. – 2001
This was a match which has striking similarities to this weekend’s final, and will remind Liverpool not to underestimate Cardiff. Robbie Fowler scored the opener in the 30th minute, but Stephane Henchoz committed a foul in the 90th minute to give Birmingham a penalty. Darren Purse scored it, and the Blues felt they should have had a second penalty in extra time it was not awarded. Liverpool won 5-4 on penalties, with Andy Johnson, now of Fulham and a once Evertonian, missing the crucial spot-kick.
Which final stands out for you? Can Cardiff spring an upset on Sunday?
image: © wonker
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