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The first title in five years was won by the new era started by Roman Abramovich's Chelsea team, who beat Liverpool in extra time in the Carling Cup final held in Cardiff, England.
2 - 3 (after extra time, 1-1 in regular time) 1' [1 - 0] John Arne Riise 79' [1 - 1] Steven Gerrard (own goal) 107' [1 - 2] Didier Drogba 112' [1 - 3] Mateja Kezman 113' [2 - 3] Antonio Nunez
Liverpool took the lead in the first minute, when J.A. Riise scored the first goal after a great shot from about 8 meters without stopping the ball, following a pass from F. Morientes.
This goal, becoming the fastest in the history of the cup final, shocked the Chelsea players a bit, and they were unable to create very dangerous opportunities in the first half.
After the break, the London team players regrouped and started to play more accurately, pressing the opponents. In the 54th minute, Liverpool's goalkeeper J. Dudek defended a shot by E. Gudjohnsen, first repelling a head shot and then saving W. Gallas's attempt to score from the rebound.
Despite the opponents' dominance, Liverpool did not give up the initiative, and Chelsea goalkeeper P. Cech had to fend off a shot by D. Hamann, and in the 75th minute, P. Ferreira superbly defended, preventing the opponents' captain S. Gerrard from scoring.
However, the same Gerrard soon wanted to equalize the score - after Ferreira's free kick, he accidentally redirected the ball into his own goal with his head. After this episode, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho was removed from the field, gesturing with his finger to his lips allegedly silencing the Liverpool fans, claiming after the match that this gesture was directed towards the English press.
Recovered Chelsea continued to attack and could have snatched victory, but a shot by D. Duff was blocked by the goalkeeper Dudek, and on the other side of the field, M. Baros's shot went wide. With the result still level, both teams had to play extra time.
At the beginning of extra time, D. Drogba was close to scoring, but the ball shot with his head hit the crossbar. However, the player from Ivory Coast managed to score at the start of the second extra time period - after a throw from G. Johnson, Drogba defeated the goalkeeper from up close, putting his team in the lead.
It seemed that M. Kezman sealed the result in the 110th minute, taking advantage of the ball that bounced off E. Gudjohnsen's pass and sending it behind the line, but soon after, Liverpool narrowed the gap when in front of Cech's goal, A. Nunez managed to direct the ball into the net.
Although the intrigue remained until the end of the match, Chelsea maintained the lead, and J. Mourinho, along with his players, could celebrate their first trophy in England.
