2000 Football League Cup Final

2000 Football League Cup Final

Event	1999–2000 Football League Cup
Leicester City Tranmere Rovers 2 1
Date	27 February 2000
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Matt Elliott (Leicester City)
Referee	Alan Wilkie (Durham)
Attendance	74,313

The 2000 Football League Cup Final was played between Leicester City, in their third final appearance in four years, and First Division side Tranmere Rovers at the Wembley Stadium on 27 February 2000. Leicester became the last team to win the League Cup at the original Wembley Stadium.

Road to the final

Leicester City Round 2, 1st leg: Crystal Palace 3–3 Leicester City Round 2, 2nd leg: Leicester City 4–2 Crystal Palace Round 3: Leicester City 2–0 Grimsby Town Round 4: Leicester City 0–0 Leeds United (Leicester won 4–2 on penalties) Quarter-final: Leicester City 3–3 Fulham (Leicester won 3–0 on penalties) Semi-final, 1st leg: Aston Villa 0–0 Leicester City Semi-final, 2nd leg: Leicester City 1–0 Aston Villa

Tranmere Rovers Round 1, 1st leg: Blackpool 2–1 Tranmere Rovers Round 1, 2nd leg: Tranmere Rovers 3–1 Blackpool Round 2, 1st leg: Tranmere Rovers 5–1 Coventry City Round 2, 2nd leg: Coventry City 3–1 Tranmere Rovers Round 3: Tranmere Rovers 2–0 Oxford United Round 4: Tranmere Rovers 4–0 Barnsley Quarter-final: Tranmere Rovers 2–1 Middlesbrough Semi-final, 1st leg: Bolton Wanderers 0–1 Tranmere Rovers Semi-final, 2nd leg: Tranmere Rovers 3–0 Bolton Wanderers

Match summary

File:Elliott lifs cup.JPG

Captain Matt Elliott lifts the cup with Neil Lennon.

Scott Taylor's successful tackle on Robbie Savage forced the ball out for a corner, and Matt Elliott headed home Leicester's first goal courtesy of a Steve Guppy cross.

Leicester came close to scoring a second goal in the 60th minute when Emile Heskey passed the ball to an unmarked Muzzy Izzet in the penalty box, who hesitated and his shot flew wide of the goal.

Referee Alan Wilkie later suffered an injury in the right leg in the 62nd minute, and was stretchered off. Phil Richards, the fourth official, was brought on to replace him.

Clint Hill picked up his second booking and was sent off after a foul on Heskey in the 63rd minute. Several Tranmere players protested but the decision stood.

Tranmere, down to 10 men, rallied and their persistence paid off when they equalised in the 77th minute when a fine header found its way to an unmarked David Kelly who, after narrowly escaping Matt Elliott's attempted tackle, clipped the ball past goalkeeper Tim Flowers. Yet, just three minutes later, Elliott scored another towering header from another Guppy corner kick, and the League Cup went to Leicester.

Match details

Leicester City v Tranmere Rovers

27 February 2000 15:00 BST

Leicester City	2–1	Tranmere Rovers
Elliott  29', 81'	Report	Kelly  77'

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 74,313 Referee: Alan Wilkie (Durham)

Leicester City

Tranmere Rovers

GK 1 Tim Flowers RB 3 Frank Sinclair CB 18 Matt Elliott (c) CB 4 Gerry Taggart LB 11 Steve Guppy RM 6 Muzzy Izzet CM 14 Robbie Savage CM 7 Neil Lennon LM 29 Stefan Oakes  77' CF 9 Emile Heskey CF 27 Tony Cottee  89' Substitutes: GK 22 Pegguy Arphexad DF 15 Phil Gilchrist MF 37 Theodoros Zagorakis MF 24 Andy Impey  77' FW 20 Ian Marshall  89' Manager: Martin O'Neill

GK 13 Joe Murphy RB 30 Reuben Hazell CB 5 Dave Challinor (c) CB 6 Clint Hill  9', 63' LB 33 Gareth Roberts RM 14 Andy Parkinson  66' CM 15 Gary Jones CM 11 Nick Henry LM 7 Alan Mahon CF 9 David Kelly CF 10 Scott Taylor Substitutes: GK 1 John Achterberg DF 31 Steve Yates  66' DF 3 Andy Thompson FW 16 Alan Morgan FW 29 Michael Black Manager: John Aldridge

Man of the Match: Matt Elliott (Leicester City) Assistant referees: Paul Armstrong (Berkshire) Wendy Toms Fourth official: Phil Richards (Lancashire)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.