2022 EFL Cup Final (Alternate)
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| Event | 2022-23 EFL Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 26 February 2023 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, England | ||||||
| Man of the Match | César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) | ||||||
| Referee | David Coote (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 89,688 | ||||||
The 2022 EFL Cup Final was the final of the 2022-23 EFL Cup. Held on 26 February 2023, the match was contested between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Described as "one of the most dramatic finals in the EFL Cup's history", the match saw Chelsea, whom narrowly lost the previous finals via penalty shootouts to Liverpool, emerge victorious when defender and team captain, César Azpilicueta headed a 120th-minute corner kick from midfielder, Kai Havertz to give Chelsea a narrow 1-0 victory, and therefore, their sixth EFL Cup title.
Historically, this is the second EFL Cup final in a row not to feature Manchester City, whom were eliminated in the third round by Chelsea. Separately, this is also Manchester United's most recent appearance in five years at an EFL Cup final, with their last appearance seeing them defeat Southampton 3-2 to win a record ninth EFL Cup title.
Route to the final
Chelsea
As a Premier League club involved in the concurrent season of the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea entered the competition in the third round, with their first fixture being against Manchester City, in which a double goal by Julián Álvarez, coupled with an own goal by Manchester City midfielder, Bernardo Silva, saw them emerge victorious by a narrow 3-2 victory, thereby ensuring that the upcoming finals would not feature Manchester City for the second time in a row. Then, upon qualifying for the fourth round, Chelsea found itself paired against Liverpool, whom they eventually defeated 4-3 via penalty shootouts after both teams were tied at 0-0 after 120 minutes. Following this, in the subsequent quarter-finals, a lone goal by midfielder, Jude Bellingham saw them defeat Southampton 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals where they were then matched against Newcastle United. On both legs, Chelsea scored three goals each time against their opponents whilst only conceding a single goal in return, particularly in the first leg of the semi-finals, where following an initial Ivan Toney goal, Chelsea midfielder, João Félix went on to score a brace to give his side a 3-1 advantage in heading to the second leg, where midfielder, Viktor Tsyhankov alongside wingers, Raheem Sterling and Raphinha proceeded to score a goal each to mark a dominant 6-1 victory to progress to the finals.
Manchester United
Like Chelsea, given their involvement in another competition, namely the UEFA Europa League, Manchester United also entered the tournament in the third round, where they faced Aston Villa, whom subsequently fell 4-2 to their opponents. Then, following a 2-0 victory over EFL Championship side, Burnley in the fourth round, Manchester United proceeded to mark a 3-0 victory over EFL League One club, Charlton Athletic, with forward, Marcus Rashford scoring twice in extra time to give his side a dominant 3-0 win. Then, for the semi-finals, Manchester United was drawn against Nottingham Forest, whom they dominantly defeated on both legs, with a 3-0 win in the first leg, followed by a 2-0 win in the second and final leg.
Pre-match
Statistically, this is Chelsea's eighth EFL Cup final and Manchester United's fourteenth. On the other hand, this also marks the most recent time Chelsea and Manchester United had ever faced one another in the EFL Cup finals in fifteen years, with their last meeting being in 2007, which was won by Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Match
Team selection
In contrast to the injury-hit Manchester United squad, Chelsea enjoyed the advantage of having a fully-fit and injury-free squad in the finals, with manager, Thomas Tuchel opting to deploy "Squad I", which was led by Lautaro Martínez at the front and César Azpilicueta as team captain for the finals. Meanwhile, Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, amidst injury concerns plaguing star forward, Marcus Rashford, opted for youngster, Alejandro Garnacho to lead the team's attacking front, all while aided by Jadon Sancho and Antony on the wings, with the Brazilian standing in for Frenchman, Anthony Martial, whose absence in the finals was confirmed by Ten Hag. In addition to that, in a repeat of their set-up against Barcelona, recent signing, Wout Weghorst was otherwise placed in a number 10 role as opposed to the more forward number 9 role.
Summary
Throughout the first fifteen minutes, Chelsea quickly emerged as the more dominant side, creating three separate chances, with a 9th-minute attempt by midfielder, João Félix being successfully saved by goalkeeper, David De Gea. Then, two further unsuccessful attempts followed, and the scoreline remained 0-0 throughout the entirety of the first half, with Chelsea having attempted six shots in total to Manchester United's zero. However, beginning in the second half, in the 47th minute, Manchester United midfielder, Bruno Fernandes unsuccessfully attempted to give his side a 1-0 lead, with the ball largely missing the goalpost. In the meantime, in the 48th minute, Manchester United initiated the first substitution of the match, with Wout Weghorst replaced by Fred in the midfield position. Following this, in the 68th minute, after a series of back and forths between the two sides, Chelsea winger, Raheem Sterling, whom was brought on to replace forward, Karim Adeyemi in the 55th minute, also unsuccessfully attempted a shot on goal, with De Gea once more saving another Chelsea attempt. Then, in the 79th and 82nd minute respectively, two further on-target attempts came from Chelsea, with midfielder, Charles De Ketelaere and defender, Wesley Fofana both proved unsuccessful in their respective attempts as the match subsequently entered into extra time.
In the end, Manchester United only managed seven shots in total, neither of which were reported to be on target, with the last attempt coming from winger, Antony in the 114th minute. Ultimately, in the very last 120th minute, through a corner kick fired by midfielder, Kai Havertz, defender and team captain, César Azpilicueta successfully headed the high ball back into the net, finally beating Manchester United goalkeeper, David De Gea, and therefore awarding his side a dramatic 1-0 victory in the final minutes of the game. Almost immediately, given the dramatic nature of the goal, Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, alongside players currently sitting on the bench, promptly ran onto the field to celebrate, with Azpilicueta himself being immediately surrounded and afterwards lifted by his teammates in honour of the club's dramatic victory and his particular role in realising the victory himself.