# 2008–09 Football League Cup

The 2008–09 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The winners qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, if not already qualified for European competitions.
Manchester United won the competition by defeating holders Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the final on 1 March 2009.

## First round

The draw for the first round took place on 13 June 2008, with matches being played two months later in the week beginning 11 August 2008.
The 72 Football League clubs competed from the first round, which was divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2007–08 season.

## Second round

Twelve Premier League teams – including the eleven that were not involved in European competitions – entered at this stage, along with the winners from the first round. The draw for the second round took place on 13 August 2008, and the matches were played in the week beginning 25 August 2008, with the exception of Manchester City's game against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was played on 24 September.
| Tie no | Home team | Score$^1$ | Away team | Attendance |
| 1 | Ipswich Town | 2 – 1 | Colchester United | 17,084 |
| 2 | Coventry City | 2 – 2 | Newcastle United | 19,249 |
| Newcastle United won 3 – 2 after extra time |||||
| 3 | Hartlepool United | 1 – 1 | West Bromwich Albion | 3,387 |
| Hartlepool United won 3 – 1 after extra time |||||
| 4 | West Ham United | 1 – 1 | Macclesfield Town | 10,055 |
| West Ham United won 4 – 1 after extra time |||||
| 5 | Huddersfield Town | 1 – 2 | Sheffield United | 15,189 |
| 6 | Cardiff City | 2 – 1 | Milton Keynes Dons | 6,334 |
| 7 | Swansea City | 1 – 1 | Hull City | 8,622 |
| Swansea City won 2 – 1 after extra time |||||
| 8 | Rotherham United | 0 – 0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5,404 |
| 0 – 0 after extra time – Rotherham United won 4 – 3 on penalties |||||
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 – 1 | Manchester City | 8,729 |
| 2 – 2 after extra time – Brighton & Hove Albion won 5 – 3 on penalties |||||
| 10 | Reading | 5 – 1 | Luton Town | 7,498 |
| 11 | Blackburn Rovers | 4 – 1 | Grimsby Town | 8,379 |
| 12 | Wigan Athletic | 4 – 0 | Notts County | 4,100 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 4 – 0 | Crystal Palace | 10,765 |
| 14 | Crewe Alexandra | 2 – 1 | Bristol City | 3,227 |
| 15 | Middlesbrough | 5 – 1 | Yeovil Town | 15,651 |
| 16 | Fulham | 3 – 2 | Leicester City | 7,584 |
| 17 | Queens Park Rangers | 4 – 0 | Carlisle United | 8,021 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 1 – 1 | Sunderland | 9,198 |
| Sunderland won 2 – 1 after extra time |||||
| 19 | Burnley | 3 – 0 | Oldham Athletic | 5,528 |
| 20 | Southampton | 2 – 0 | Birmingham City | 11,331 |
| 21 | Bolton Wanderers | 1 – 2 | Northampton Town | 7,136 |
| 22 | Watford | 1 – 1 | Darlington | 5,236 |
| Watford won 2 – 1 after extra time |||||
| 23 | Preston North End | 0 – 1 | Derby County | 8,037 |
| 24 | Cheltenham Town | 2 – 3 | Stoke City | 3,600 |
$^1$ Score after 90 minutes

## Third round

Eight teams involved in European competition entered at this stage along with the winners from the second round. Since nine English teams qualified for European competition in 2008, it was initially unclear precisely which eight teams would automatically enter the third round. Either Aston Villa, who had entered into European competition via the UEFA Intertoto Cup, or Manchester City, who qualified for the UEFA Cup via the UEFA Fair Play ranking would enter in the third round with the other entering in the second round instead. On 29 July 2008, it was announced that Aston Villa would enter the 2008–09 Carling Cup at the third round stage after reaching the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
The draw for the third round was held on 30 August 2008, and the matches were played on Tuesday, 23 September and Wednesday, 24 September 2008, with the exception of the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Derby County, which was played on 4 November.
| Tie no | Home team | Score$^1$ | Away team | Attendance |
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 – 0 | Sheffield United | 56,632 |
| 2 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 – 4 | Derby County | 6,625 |
| 3 | Burnley | 1 – 0 | Fulham | 7,119 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 0 – 4 | Chelsea | 15,339 |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers | 1 – 0 | Everton | 14,366 |
| 6 | Rotherham United | 3 – 1 | Southampton | 5,147 |
| 7 | Swansea City | 1 – 0 | Cardiff City | 17,411 |
| 8 | Ipswich Town | 1 – 4 | Wigan Athletic | 13,803 |
| 9 | Stoke City | 2 – 2 | Reading | 9,141 |
| 2 – 2 after extra time – Stoke City won 4 – 3 on penalties |||||
| 10 | Leeds United | 3 – 2 | Hartlepool United | 14,599 |
| 11 | Watford | 1 – 0 | West Ham United | 12,914 |
| 12 | Manchester United | 3 – 1 | Middlesbrough | 53,729 |
| 13 | Liverpool | 2 – 1 | Crewe Alexandra | 28,591 |
| 14 | Aston Villa | 0 – 1 | Queens Park Rangers | 21,541 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 2 – 2 | Northampton Town | 21,082 |
| 2 – 2 after extra time – Sunderland won 4 – 3 on penalties |||||
| 16 | Newcastle United | 1 – 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 20,577 |
$^1$ Score after 90 minutes

## Fourth round

The fourth round draw took place on Saturday, 27 September, and the matches were played in the week commencing 10 November 2008.
| Tie no | Home team | Score$^1$ | Away team | Attendance |
| 1 | Sunderland | 1 – 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 18,555 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 3 – 0 | Wigan Athletic | 59,665 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 1 – 1 | Burnley | 41,369 |
| 1 – 1 after extra time – Burnley won 5 – 4 on penalties |||||
| 4 | Swansea City | 0 – 1 | Watford | 9,549 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 1 – 0 | Queens Park Rangers | 62,539 |
| 6 | Stoke City | 2 – 0 | Rotherham United | 15,458 |
| 7 | Derby County | 2 – 1 | Leeds United | 18,540 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 – 2 | Liverpool | 33,242 |
$^1$ Score after 90 minutes

## Fifth round

The fifth round draw took place on Saturday, 15 November and the matches were played week in the commencing 1 December 2008.

## Semi-finals

The semi-final draw took place on Saturday, 6 December 2008. The first leg matches were played on Tuesday, 6 January 2009 and Wednesday, 7 January 2009, while the second legs were played on Tuesday, 20 January 2009 and Wednesday, 21 January 2009.

### Second leg

Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.
Tottenham Hotspur won 6–4 on aggregate.

## Final

The final was played at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday, 1 March 2009.

## Top scorers

The top scorers in the 2008–09 Football League Cup are as follows:
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nathan Ellington | Derby County | 6 |
| 1 | Roman Pavlyuchenko | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 |
| 1 | Carlos Tevez | Manchester United | 6 |
| 4 | Martin Paterson | Burnley | 5 |
| 5 | Jermaine Beckford | Leeds United | 4 |
| 5 | James Henry | Reading | 4 |
| 5 | Carlos Vela | Arsenal | 4 |
| 5 | Emmanuel Villa | Derby County | 4 |
| 9 | Henri Camara | Wigan Athletic | 3 |
| 9 | Matt Derbyshire | Blackburn Rovers | 3 |
| 9 | Robert Earnshaw | Nottingham Forest | 3 |
| 9 | Emmanuel Ledesma | Queens Park Rangers | 3 |
| 9 | Nani | Manchester United | 3 |
| 9 | Joel Porter | Hartlepool United | 3 |