2010 Football League Cup final

2010 Football League Cup Final
Match programme cover
Event2009–10 Football League Cup
Aston Villa Manchester United
1 2
Date28 February 2010
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Man of the MatchAntonio Valencia (Manchester United)[1]
RefereePhil Dowd (Staffordshire)[2]
Attendance88,596
WeatherMostly cloudy
7 °C (45 °F)[3]
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2011 →

The 2010 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Football League Cup, the 50th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and The Football League. The match, played at Wembley Stadium on 28 February 2010,[4] was won by Manchester United, who beat Aston Villa 2–1. Aston Villa took the lead in the fifth minute of the game, via a James Milner penalty kick, but Michael Owen equalised for Manchester United seven minutes later. Wayne Rooney, who replaced the injured Owen shortly before half time, scored the winning goal with 16 minutes left to play.[5]

Manchester United went into the match as defending champions, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the 2009 final. The win gave them their fourth Football League Cup title, their third in five years and their second in succession, becoming the first team to retain the trophy since Nottingham Forest in 1990.[6] It was the first time Manchester United successfully defended a major cup, having been losing finalists as title holders in the 1995 and 2005 FA Cup, and the 2009 Champions League finals.[7] Since Manchester United qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League via their league position, the place in the following season's Europa League which would have been given to the winners of the League Cup was instead given to Villa, since they finished in sixth place in the 2009–10 Premier League.

  1. ^ Malley, Frank (1 March 2010). "Fergie: Villa couldn't handle Valencia". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. M.E.N. Media. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Officials named for Carling Cup final". football-league.co.uk. The Football Association. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Weather History for London, United Kingdom". wunderground.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Key Dates Revealed". football-league.co.uk. The Football League. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  5. ^ Winter, Henry (28 February 2010). "Aston Villa 1 Manchester United 2: Carling Cup final match report". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  6. ^ McCarra, Kevin (28 February 2010). "Wayne Rooney seals Manchester United's Carling Cup comeback". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  7. ^ "Rooney the hero as United overcome Villa". ESPN FC. 28 February 2010. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.