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Carling Cup


Socceroo Tim Cahill's Everton were knocked out of the Carling Cup at the semi-final stage by Chelsea overnight. A 1-0 win on the night gave the London club a 3-1 aggregate win which will see them play in the final at Wembley against Tottenham on February 24.


Despite Avram Grant's admission that the tournament did not mean much to him, the Chelsea boss still fielded a near full-strength side against the Merseysiders who tried in vain to cancel out Chelsea's 2-1 lead from the first leg.

England midfielder Joe Cole's stunning 69th-minute goal ended any hope of Everton reaching their dream of a first Wembley final in 13 years. Despite the goal, Chelsea had goalkeeper Petr Cech to thank on more than one occasion while Everton were left to rue the missed opportunities.

Everton boss said: "It was a brilliant effort by my players but we had opportunities and we didn’t take them.

Now the task for me is to find that special ingredient that gets you to cup finals and wins you trophies.

It's always going to be difficult against the top sides over two legs but we need that bit of magic to challenge them."




After 28 matches in charge, Avram Grant now has identical statistics to his predecessor Jose Mourinho with 21 wins, five draws and two losses and is on course to win a trophy in his maiden season at the helm.



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Carling Cup


Tottenham Hotspur ended eight years of hurt against bitter London rivals Arsenal overnight with an emphatic 5-1 win in the Carling Cup at White Hart Lane.

Spurs ended the Gunners stranglehold over them in all competitions since 1999 and for a total of 21 encounters to book a place in the final to be played at Wembley. Despite the inclusion of first-team regulars William Gallas, Alex Hleb and Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench, a largely young Gunners side were unable to hold off an experienced Spurs outfit with Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane running riot to land new coach Juande Ramos one win away from a trophy in his maiden season at the club.

Goals from Jermaine Jenas (3), an own goal from Nicklas Bendtner (27) and further efforts from Robbie Keane (48), Aaron Lennon (60) and Steed Malbranque (90) sealed a famous victory for Ramos' men.

The Spurs manager hailed his team as 'perfect' in the aftermath of the win, saying: "In order to beat a team like Arsenal, you have to play well. We didn't make mistakes and were perfect in all areas of the team,' said Ramos.

The effort that the players have put in to reach this final means they are the architects of this victory."

Spurs will play the winner of the match between Chelsea and Tim Cahill's Everton in the final.




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Carling Cup: Chelsea through to SF

December 20th 2007 05:00
Carling Cup


Chelsea are through to face Everton in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup after knocking out Liverpool at the quarter-final stages overnight.

With Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez showing little intent in a starting line-up that included reserve keeper Charles Itandje, youngsters Jack Hobbs and Leiva Lucas and a substitutes bench missing captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish striker Fernando Torres, it was always going to be an up-hill struggle against a near full strength Chelsea side.



Chelsea's class and experience prevailed in the second-half courtesy of strikes from Frank Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko to seal a 2-0 win for the London club.

The match was marred by a moment of madness from England striker Peter Crouch who was red-carded for a two-footed lunge on Mikel John Obi shortly after Lampard's opener in the 59th minute.

Crouch will now miss Liverpool's home clash with Portsmouth and the visits to Derby and Manchester City over the festive period.

In the other draw, bitter London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will battle it out for a place in the final.





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Carling Cup


Arsenal's classy youngsters and and ten-man Tottenham advanced through to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup overnight with wins over Blackburn and Manchester City respectively


[ Click here to read more ]
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