League Cup Final: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea

[funster]

Get effing in! What more could you ask for? League Cup Final..... beating Chelsea..... coming from a goal down..... qualifying for Europe for another season..... SILVERWARE! Come on! Put simply, this was brilliant. Just brilliant.

Ahead of the game I convinced myself we could do it. Not quite the same level of confidence as I had in the semi, but enough to suggest we would do it. I pitched up to my sister's with plenty of time in hand, had some nosh and headed for the ground.

Old timers will know I went to Wembley last year for the first of the "Community Days". My God! What a difference this was. Near enough 90000 footie fans bursting the walkways around Wembley. As we walked up Olympic Way the crowd was split, and guess what? The singing was all coming from the Spurs!

"Sell all your tickets! You couldn't sell all your tickets!"

Shocking. No response from Chelsea. As you would expect.

We got there early enough for me to persuade my sister to get us two very expensive pints in, and downing those, we headed to our seats.

Not quite in the lap of the Gods, but high enough and pretty much perfectly in line with the touchline at our end of the ground. The flags were waved - more vigorously at our end - and the songs started. The razzamatazz was all there. This was a final alright. Didn't matter what, it was a final!

As the anticipation built I could hardly contain myself. Looking out over Wembley..... the massive pitch..... the League Cup Final..... the supporters..... this was it. This was it!

The team? Well, as expected, and Chelsea? Full strength. All that rubbish about whether Lampard and Terry would play. Really..... were we surprised that they did? And the rest!

I said to my sister that we were great at early starts lately and as the whistle blew to get cracking, we were again. For the first five..... ten..... fifteen..... twenty-plus minutes we were utterly dominant. Within seconds a misplaced pass had let Keane in and only a deflection off John Terry's knackers diverted the ball wide.

In quick succession Chimbonda headed onto the top of the bar from a corner, Berbatov headed just wide when beating the Chelsea centre-halves to a header, and Malbranque had a snapshot saved superbly by Cech. Oh man. I couldn't believe it. It was all Spurs.

But it had to end. And it ended with Chelsea winning free-kick after free-fick, closing in on the edge of our box. Once, twice, three times..... Once, maybe twice, dubious Drogba dives, but the third..... Well, after sizing up the previous one, he found the target.

One-nil Chelsea. No way. Not deserved. Dodgy refereeing. How can this be? They've had nothing but a dodgy couple of free kicks and yet they're still ahead..... Was Robbo out of position? Mmmmm..... not sure actually. I wonder whether the wall was in the wrong position? OK, bad on the keeper to put them there, but.....

It was shocking. They'd offered next to nothing, yet they were going to go in ahead. A major Spurs complaint - unsurprisingly - was Drogba going down. He really did fall over at every chance he got. Oh, and the referee gave them all. Pah. Before half-time Terry went in two-footed on the right wing. Result? No free-kick. This really was winding us up. Just as well the whistle blew.

Not much to report at half time but we were at our seat ready for the second half.

Now, Avram Grant has said that we did nowt in the second half.....

Yeah. Right you are.

There was never anything overtly threatening about Chelsea. Nothing. OK, they kept us more quiet than they had in the first half, and at a goal up, who can blame them? (Other than the footballing purists?!).

We kept going. Hamstrung on the wings with Lennon totally unable to get into the game a switch took place with Malbranque withdrawn and Lennon switched over. Having been utterly, utterly uninvolved Lennon now began to run. And it was a run that led to the pen.

We didn't realise until the linesman held his flag over his chest. Penalty! Come on!

Cool as you like - possibly the coolest ever - Berbatov stepped up and slotted home to draw us level. Its so difficult to say in words, but this really was the coolest penalty ever!

A goal apiece..... twenty minutes to go..... All of a sudden chances were coming at a real premium. With extra-time looming, all of a sudden, the perfect ball..... Keane releasing Zokora, he beat the Chelsea players to the ball, and one-on-one.....NOOOOOOOO!!! Saved by Cech - with his head. The rebound goes high and wide. That could've been it.

It wasn't and so we moved into extra time. Four minutes in, free-kick. Jenas to take. A bit too angled to repeat the goal against Arsenal, but good enough. Oh yeah, good enough! Two-one! Woody heads it, Cech palms it, but only against Woody, and the ball rolls in!

Two-one! We're ahead! We're going nuts! There's plenty of time to go, but we're ahead!

Now I start counting minutes. As each minute goes by I turn to my sister and speak it. Five..... six..... seven..... eight..... and so it goes.....

We stick at it, and then, all of a sudden, another break..... Zokora..... passes left and right..... he's through, he can take it himself..... he opts for Lennon on the left..... and overhits it! Ah man! What is he doing?!

But now we're minutes away. Chelsea launch one final attack, their end of the stadium decimated. All I'm doing is looking at the ref. That's it. Crap as he's been, its all down to him. And then he does it. With Chelsea attacking down the left the whistle goes. Its all over! Kalou's shot is an irrelevance! We've won! We've won! The League Cup! Its ours! We've won! We've won!

Its an unbelievable feeling. One I've not had for a long, long time. This one's all the more satisfying than the last. Chelsea..... a goal down..... and we still did it! The players are loving it. Chelsea are vocal in defeat. We'll put it down to them not being used to it!

My God, we've done it! We've won! This is what its all about! Silverware, UEFA Cup football for the third season running.

The celebrations keep going and going. The players collect the trophy, they parade it, they make their way around on the lap of honour.

Thank you Spurs! Thank you Spurs!

It was all so great. Robbo, despite the possible poor positioning at the free-kick pulled off a match-winning save with his foot from Kalou. Chimmy, despite his petulance, did well at left back. Hutton? As good as you could want. Malbranque, top notch, working hard, just what was needed. Lennon disappointed first half, got back second when switched to the left and his cross created the pen.

Up front, the top notch partnership of Keane and Berbatov..... they were one thing and one thing along..... top notch!

In the centre of midfield, Jenas magnificent, running his nuts off, with and without the ball, releasing the pressure by taking us forward and into the corners late on. Zokora getting stuck right in. Will he ever score? Who can say?! The songs after the game went something like "Duh duh duh, Didier Zokora! Duh duh duh, his shooting's getting poorer!"

So, the astute amongst you will have realised that two starters are missing. We'll get to them! As for the subs, great. Did exactly what was needed.

And so to the final two. Jonny Woodgate and Ledley King. Legends! Legends with legendary performances. Magnificent. Not only did Woody score the winner he, along with King, kept Anelka and Drogba quiet. No mean feat. What an amazing performance from the two centre-halves. Amazing.

The celebrations went on long into the night. Into the next day! We'd done it. We'd won the League Cup and rubbish as it was trying to get away from the stadium..... as long as the queues were..... it didn't matter. None of it matters when you've won.

We'd done it. We'd beaten one of the top four. In a major final. After going a goal down. And we were back in Europe! This is a fantastic feeling! A fantastic feeling!

Now, onto PSV and UEFA Cup victory!

Come on you Spurs!

[Beats]

Great report as ever funster.

COYS!!!!!! :10: :10: :10:

[slimboydim]

Good Morning, Great Report, gives a real feel of
the day. There were times toward the end when
I just couldn't watch, so being there, must have
been incredible.
Thank You for sharing your experience.

[yidno1]

Fantastic report as ever fella, sumed up the day perfectly as If i was there.

Avran Grants comments were nothing short of farcical, what the hell was on about we Spurs controlled the game from start to finish theres was never any real pressure on our goal but we could have had 3 or 4.

Roll on PSV The UEFA is ours next, oh and isnt in fighting today at Chavski the iceing on the cake!!! :1:

[berby999]

thats a great report funster, it was like re-living the whole experiance. thanks :10:

[THFC FOR LIFE]

Great Report mate almost as good as the result. ( No sorry nothing can top that !) :10: