2005 Football League Cup final

2005 Football League Cup final

Match programme cover
Event	2004–05 Football League Cup
Liverpool Chelsea 2 3
After extra time
Date	27 February 2005
Venue	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Man of the Match	John Terry (Chelsea)[1]
Referee	Steve Bennett (Kent)
Attendance	71,622 [2]
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The 2005 Football League Cup final was a football match played between Liverpool and Chelsea on 27 February 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2004–05 Football League Cup, the 45th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and Football League. Liverpool were appearing in their tenth final; they had previously won seven and lost two while Chelsea were appearing in the final for the fourth time. They had previously won twice and lost once.

As both teams were in the Premier League, they entered the competition in the third round. Liverpool's matches were generally close affairs, with only two victories secured by two goals or more. A 2–0 win over Middlesbrough in the fourth round was followed by a 4–3 victory in a penalty shootout after their quarter-final match with Tottenham Hotspur finished 1–1. Chelsea's matches were also close affairs, their only victory by more than one goal was against Newcastle United in the fourth round, which they won 2–0.

Watched by a crowd of 78,000 Liverpool scored inside the first minute when John Arne Riise volleyed a Fernando Morientes pass into the Chelsea goal. Neither side was able to score despite a number of chances, until the 79th minute when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard headed a Paulo Ferreira free-kick into his own net. José Mourinho was ordered to the stands after Chelsea's equaliser for making a gesture to the Liverpool fans. Despite the incident, Chelsea continued their dominance into extra-time and a goal each from Didier Drogba and Mateja Kežman gave them a 3–1 lead. A minute later Antonio Núñez of Liverpool scored a header to reduce the deficit to 3–2, but Chelsea held to win the match and the League Cup for the third time.