The 2007 Football League Cup final was a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 25 February 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2006–07 staging of the Football League Cup, and last to be staged at the Millennium Stadium. Chelsea were making their fifth League Cup final appearance to Arsenal's sixth.
Each club needed to get past four rounds to reach the final. Chelsea made comfortable progress; they scored 12 goals while conceding only one to Wycombe Wanderers in the semi-final. Arsenal fielded a relatively young team throughout the competition; their wins against fellow league opponents Liverpool in the fifth-round and Tottenham Hotspur in the semis were acclaimed by the British press. Chelsea entered the match as favourites and were undefeated against Arsenal in all competitions since 2004.
Watched by a crowd of 70,073, Arsenal took the lead in the 12th minute when Theo Walcott scored. Chelsea equalised moments later through Didier Drogba, who also scored the match winner six minutes from the end of normal time. Midway through the second half, Chelsea captain John Terry was accidentally kicked in the face after attempting to score with a diving header; he played no further part in the match having sought medical attention. Stoppage time was extended because of the incident, at which point a fracas occurred between the Arsenal and Chelsea players. Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor were dismissed for their actions, together with Chelsea's Mikel John Obi. Play came to an end in the 102nd minute.
Chelsea manager José Mourinho was delighted with his team's win and credited his opponent's performance. He felt the brawl in stoppage time was born out of Arsenal's frustration after going behind in the match; he did not want either team to be punished. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger apologised for his players' conduct and said he had no regrets over his team selection. Both finalists were fined £100,000 each by The Football Association for their inability to control their players. Emmanuel Eboué was retrospectively banned for three matches as his punch on Wayne Bridge was missed by Howard Webb. Wenger was later found guilty of improper conduct and charged £2,500 for his comments about the linesman.
Route to the final
The Football League Cup is a football competition open to the 92 teams in the Premier League and the Football League.
Chelsea Round Opposition Score 3rd Blackburn Rovers (a) 2–0 4th Aston Villa (h) 4–0 5th Newcastle United (a) 1–0 Semi-final Wycombe Wanderers (a) 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers (h) 4–0 Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue.
Chelsea entered the competition in the third round, as one of the eight teams from the Premier League involved in European competition during the season. They were drawn against Blackburn Rovers; the match took place at Ewood Park. A goal apiece from Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou ensured a 2–0 victory.
Chelsea's opponent in the fourth round were Aston Villa. The match was played at Stamford Bridge on 8 November 2006. Frank Lampard opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 32nd minute; further goals by Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba in the second half secured a 4–0 win.
Newcastle United hosted Chelsea at St James' Park in the fifth round of the competition. The home team came close to scoring after the midway point of the first half; Obafemi Martins's shot towards the Chelsea goal hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, before the ball was cleared. In the 79th minute, Drogba – on as a substitute – scored the winning goal of the match, from a free-kick.
Wycombe Wanderers were Chelsea's opponent in the semi-final which was played over two-legs. The first leg was staged at Wycombe's home ground, Adams Park. A match preview in The Guardian noted the financial gap between the two sides: "Wycombe's most expensive player, Jermaine Easter, cost £80,000; Chelsea's squad is valued at more than £300m." In the game Wycombe started brightly, but the team were unable to convert their chances. Chelsea took the lead in the 36th minute when Wayne Bridge collected a pass from Kalou and chipped the ball over Ricardo Batista, the Wycombe goalkeeper. Easter equalised for Wycombe with 13 minutes of the match remaining; neither side scored again and the match ended 1–1. The second leg at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea start better of the two sides and two goals apiece from Shevchenko and Lampard meant they won 4–0 on the night, 5–1 on aggregate score to progress to the final.
Arsenal Round Opposition Score 3rd West Bromwich Albion (a) 2–0 4th Everton (a) 1–0 5th Liverpool (a) 6–3 Semi-final Tottenham Hotspur (a) 2–2 Tottenham Hotspur (h) 3–1 Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue.
Arsenal entered the competition in the third round as they participated in European football during the season. They faced West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, where striker Jérémie Aliadière scored twice to secure a 2–0 victory for the visitors.
Arsenal travelled to Goodison Park in the fourth round of the competition to play Everton. They won the match 1–0 courtesy of a late Emmanuel Adebayor goal, which came from a corner. For much of the game Everton played with a man disadvantage as striker James McFadden was sent off in the 19th minute for dissent.
Liverpool were Arsenal's opponent in the fifth round. The match, scheduled on 19 December 2006 at Anfield, was postponed by referee Martin Atkinson because of heavy fog. Atkinson's decision infuriated the managers of both clubs, with Rafael Benítez commenting: "There were a lot of people looking forward to the game and it's really difficult to explain." The tie was rescheduled for 9 January 2007 and on the night Arsenal took the lead when Aliadière scored in the 27th minute. Robbie Fowler equalised for Liverpool six minutes later. Later, two goals from Júlio Baptista and goal from Alex Song put Arsenal 4–1 ahead at half time. In the second half, Baptista completed his hat-trick; although Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypiä scored to close the scoreline gap for Liverpool, Baptista added his fourth goal of the match in the 84th minute. The final score was 6–3, Liverpool's heaviest defeat at Anfield in 76 years. In his match report for The Guardian, Daniel Taylor praised Arsenal's reserve team and summarised: "The difference between the two teams was immense. Arsenal played with flair and purpose; Liverpool were dishevelled and short of leadership."
Tottenham Hotspur faced Arsenal in the semi-final which was played over two-legs. The first leg was at Tottenham's home ground, White Hart Lane. A goal from Dimitar Berbatov gave Tottenham the lead in the 12th minute and they extended their advantage after Baptista inadvertently kicked the ball into his own goal. Baptista, however, made amends in the second half, scoring twice in the space of 13 minutes to level the score at 2–2. The second leg at the Emirates Stadium saw Arsenal take the lead in the 77th minute when Adebayor scored. Mido equalised for Tottenham, which took the match into extra time because the away goals rule was not in use in the competition. Aliadière's goal in the 105th minute restored Arsenal's lead and an own goal scored by Pascal Chimbonda ensured the home team progressed to the final, winning 3–1 after extra time, and 5–3 on aggregate.
Build-up Chelsea, the match favourites, were appearing in their fifth League Cup final; they had previously won the competition three times in 1965, 1998 and 2005, and lost one final in 1972. By contrast Arsenal made their sixth League Cup final appearance; they had won two in 1987 and 1993 and lost three in 1968, 1969 and 1988. Both clubs had played each other in the League Cup four times, with Chelsea and Arsenal each winning on two occasions. Chelsea's biggest win against Arsenal in the competition was a 5–0 away win in November 1998. Prior to the match Arsenal's last win against Chelsea in all competitions came in February 2004.
The relationship between both clubs had become strained, not least because of Chelsea's financial advantage; the club was owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich. The day after Chelsea announced losses of £80 million for 2005–06, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger expressed concern over his opponent's conduct: "I have said many times that all the clubs should be balanced with their natural resources. That means they can only spend what they earn." Chelsea manager José Mourinho refused to respond to Wenger's comments in his UEFA Champions League pre-match press conference, but made reference to his record in the competition in contrast to his counterpart: "Many great managers in the world have never won it. The big example is not far from us; Arsène Wenger is a top manager in the world. He's a big manager in the world of football and he never did it so when I did it once, I can thank God for that. I have that."
Wenger replied to Mourinho's comments by arguing that although plenty of managers have won the Champions League, most would not be considered greats – "What is important is that you look at their careers in 10, 15 or 20 years. What kind of quality have you brought through in your work and on how consistent a level have you done it?"
Much was made of Arsenal's policy of using the League Cup to field youngsters. In order to explain his team selection, Wenger made an analogy between his youth players and hopefuls on The X Factor, a television programme he admired. He ruled out playing his more experienced players for the match: "We battled very hard to be in this final and it would be a reward for this team, which has risen up to every challenge." Mourinho did not anticipate Arsenal would make a "crazy change" to their team: "Normally, they change players but keep their philosophy, their idea of football, their system." He believed the final had the makings of a showpiece event as the competition was not a main target for both clubs; emotions therefore would not dictate matters.
Both clubs received an allocation of approximately 30,000 tickets. The competition sponsor Carling gave up its allocation; they instead invited 200 fans of Arsenal and Chelsea to be seated in their suite. Supporters of the four semi-final clubs were invited to participate in the "Carling Cabinet"; this gave them the opportunity to have their say about the matchday experience. Ticket prices for adults were priced £36, £48, £64 and £74, with concessions for juniors and seniors. For every ticket sold, the Football League gave £1 to Children in Need; the donation came at a total of £70,000.
Chelsea were expected to line up in a 4–4–2 formation, with Essien in central defence. They had doubts about the fitness of captain John Terry going into the final. He appeared to have damaged his ankle ligaments during the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League tie with Porto, though passed a fitness test just days after. Arsenal were expected to line up in a similar formation, with Baptista and Aliadière up front.
Train delays caused by a "major signal failure" meant that on the day of the final over 2,000 spectators were late for kick-off. An accident on the M4 motorway trigged more chaos; this led to requests for the game to be delayed, but South Wales Police were confident they could get everyone seated in time. Network Rail later apologised for the delay.
Match Chelsea set up in a 4–1–3–2 formation with Terry partnering Ricardo Carvalho in defence. Claude Makélélé played behind a midfield three made up of Lampard, Ballack and Essien. By contrast Arsenal lined up in a 4–4–2 formation; Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott were positioned either side of central midfielders Cesc Fàbregas and Denílson and provided width. Arsenal's starting line up – averaging 21 years – was the youngest to play in a major English cup final. Before the match commenced, the national anthem was sung by Juliette Pochin.
Summary