2008 Scottish League Cup Final

The 2008 Scottish League Cup Final was played on 16 March 2008[1] at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the 61st Scottish League Cup Final. The final was contested by Dundee United, who beat Aberdeen 4–1 in the semi-final,[2] and Rangers, who beat Hearts 2–0.[3] The two sides had last met in a League Cup Final in the 1984–85 season with Rangers winning 1–0 on that occasion. The previous year's winners were Hibernian, who beat Kilmarnock 5–1 in the 2007 Final[4] but they were knocked out in the third round by Motherwell who beat them 4–2, it was the fifth successive year in which both of the previous year's finalists did not make it to the final. Rangers won the match 3–2 on penalties after the match had ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time.

2008 Scottish League Cup Final
Event2007–08 Scottish League Cup
After extra time. Rangers won 3–2 on penalties.
Date16 March 2008
VenueHampden Park, Glasgow
RefereeKenny Clark
Attendance50,019

Route to the Final

Dundee United

Home teamScoreAway team
Round 2[5]Dundee United3 – 1Ross County
Round 3Falkirk1 – 3Dundee United
Quarter-finalDundee United3 – 1Hamilton Academical
Semi-finalDundee United4 – 1Aberdeen

Rangers

Home teamScoreAway team
Round 3[5]East Fife0 – 4Rangers
Quarter-finalMotherwell1 – 2Rangers
Semi-finalRangers2 – 0Hearts

Match

Team news

Dundee United manager Craig Levein made four changes after the side's midweek goalless draw at Celtic. Noel Hunt returned to the starting line-up along with Christian Kalvenes, Willo Flood and Morgaro Gomis. Out went David Robertson and Craig Conway, who dropped to the bench and cup-tied duo Danny Grainger and James O'Brien.

Rangers were without the suspended duo Nacho Novo and Charlie Adam, who were replaced by Lee McCulloch and Chris Burke.

Match Summary

Neither team looked better than the other during a fairly uneventful first 10 minutes. in the 18th minute the Rangers captain Barry Ferguson forced Dundee United's goalkeeper, Łukasz Załuska to produce the first real save of the game. It was Dundee United however who became the dominant team as the first half progressed and took a deserved lead in the 33rd minute, the first shot by Noel Hunt was saved by Allan McGregor but the ball wasn't cleared and Hunt somehow managed to get the ball over the line despite the best efforts of Steven Davis. United could have been two goals in front moments later as Saša Papac almost scored an own goal with a pass back but Carlos Cuéllar was there to clear it off the line.

Before the second half got underway, Rangers manager Walter Smith made a substitution with midfielder Brahim Hemdani making way for Striker Jean-Claude Darcheville. The second half started in a similar way to the first, with neither team in control. United felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute when Cuellar appeared to pull back Christian Kalvenes in the box, but referee Kenny Clark inexplicably waved play on. Walter Smith made another substitution in the 61st minute when the left back Papac was replaced by Striker Kris Boyd. Darcheville headed the ball into the net in the 77th minute from a quickly-taken free-kick, but the referee decided that Ferguson had taken the set-piece too quickly. Rangers scored the equalizing goal with 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Mark Kerr attempted a pass back to his goalkeeper but Boyd was there to score the goal that would take the match into Extra time.

The first half of extra time got underway with Rangers looking the better team, however with just 5 minutes played Mark de Vries restored United's lead when he put the ball past McGregor with a strike from the top-right edge of the box. Rangers dominated the second half and were rewarded when Boyd headed in the equalizer at the back post in 112th minute. The match would be decided by a Penalty shootout, Boyd scored the winning penalty after a miss by Lee Wilkie.

Match details

Dundee United2 – 2 (a.e.t.)Rangers
Hunt  34'
de Vries  95'
Report Boyd  85', 113'
Penalties
Flood
Conway
de Vries
Robertson
Wilkie
2 – 3
Dundee United went first
Darcheville
Whittaker
Davis
McCulloch
Boyd
Attendance: 50,019
Referee: K Clark
Dundee United
Rangers
DUNDEE UNITED :
GK1 Łukasz Załuska
RB24 Mihael Kovačević
CB18 Garry Kenneth
CB4 Lee Wilkie (c)
LB3 Christian Kalvenes 94'
RM20 Prince Buaben 96'
CM6 Willo Flood
CM7 Mark Kerr
LM16 Morgaro Gomis
CF10 Noel Hunt 78'
CF22 Mark de Vries
Substitutes:
GK13 Euan McLean
DF5 Darren Dods
DF2 Sean Dillon
MF12 David Robertson 95'
MF15 Craig Conway 78'
Manager:
Craig Levein
RANGERS:
GK1 Allan McGregor
RB21 Kirk Broadfoot 54'
CB24 Carlos Cuéllar
CB3 David Weir
LB5 Saša Papac 61'
RM17 Chris Burke 116'
CM7 Brahim Hemdani 45'
CM6 Barry Ferguson (c)
CM23 Christian Dailly
LM12 Steven Davis
CF27 Lee McCulloch 64'
Substitutes:
GK25 Neil Alexander
DF28 Steven Whittaker 116'
MF8 Kevin Thomson
CF9 Kris Boyd 61'
CF19 Jean-Claude Darcheville 45'
Manager:
Walter Smith

Statistics

Dundee United Rangers
Total shots1113
Shots on target47
Corner kicks68
Fouls committed1919
Yellow cards12
Red cards00

References

  1. "League Cup Fixtures". BBC Sport. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  2. "Aberdeen 1-4 Dundee United". BBC Sport. 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  3. "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  4. "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  5. SPL teams receive a bye to the second round; teams competing in Europe into the third.
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