Woodgate wins League Cup for Spurs

WEMBLEY, England -- Jonathan Woodgate's header in extra time gave Tottenham a well deserved 2-1 League Cup final victory over Chelsea at Wembley.

Tottenham claimed their first trophy for eight years after Didier Drogba had given Chelsea a half-time lead direct from a free kick and Dimitar Berbatov had equalized from the penalty spot when a linesman spotted a handling offense by Wayne Bridge.

It was an early triumph for Tottenham manager Juande Ramos, four months after his arrival from Sevilla.

"Obviously yes it is tremendously satisfiying to get a trophy," he said. "Especially for the fans and the club, it has been a long time and for a club as big as Tottenham it seems longer.

"This one maybe has a special flavour to it because it was against a team that is supposedly superior to us in Chelsea. It was similar to Sevilla beating Real Madrid and Barcelona -- it makes the whole thing taste better."

Tottenham benefited from the return of Ledley King to their defense for his first appearance since the 5-1 trouncing of Arsenal in the second leg of the semifinal.

He helped to contain a Chelsea attack in which Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka started together for the first time.

Tottenham carved out the early chances, Pascal Chimbonda heading Aaron Lennon's corner onto the top of the crossbar and Berbatov heading Robbie Keane's cross from the left just wide.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech threw himself low to his right to keep out a drive from Steed Malbranque as the pressure was maintained by Spurs and it was not until the 29th minute that Chelsea produced a shot on goal, Frank Lampard's wayward effort from 25 yards.

Nevertheless Chelsea went in front from a 39th minute free kick after Didier Zokora fouled international team mate Drogba just outside the penalty area.

The body check earned Zokora a yellow card and Drogba inflicted worse punishment by sending the kick around the edge of a poorly assembled wall and just inside the far post, with goalkeeper Paul Robinson a mere spectator.

With 30 of the 90 minutes remaining Ramos gambled on a switch to a three-man defense, introducing Tom Huddlestone to his midfield and withdrawing Chimbonda.

Chimbonda was so displeased that instead of joining the replacements on the bench he wandered straight down the tunnel to the changing rooms, sadly shaking his head.

His manager's judgment was justified when Huddlestone popped up in the box to collect Lennon's cross from the left with 20 minutes left.

As Bridge attempted to close him down, the Chelsea defender twice handled the ball and, after consulting his assistant, referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot, from where Berbatov sent Cech the wrong way to equalize after 70 minutes.

Tottenham should have settled matters in normal time when Keane sent Zokora clear but the midfielder saw his first shot blocked by the head of the outrushing Cech and then blasted the loose ball over the bar.

Cech was left looking dazed but he was still alert enough to produce another fine block to deny Berbatov and send the match into extra-time.

After four minutes of the extra period Woodgate went up for a corner from the left. Cech came out to get two hands on the ball but only pushed it against Woodgate's head and it rebounded back into the unguarded goal.

It was Woodgate's first goal in two years. "I don't believe it. I don't usually go up for corners but I just managed to get my head to it," he said.

"I think we deserved it. We were the best team on the day and we knocked the ball about against a team who are very resilient."

King was delighted with his winner's medal. "It's amazing, our commitment level was great," he said.

"It wasn't nice to be 1-0 down but they didn't create much."

Chelsea could count themselves unfortunate to be denied a penalty in the second period of extra-time when Woodgate appeared to man-handle Drogba in the box and Paul Robinson had to produce a superb save with his legs to deny substitute Salomon Kalou.

Chelsea manager Avram Grant was disappointed with the penalty decisison against his side.

"We did not start well but as the game progressed we played better and after we scored our goal we dominated," he said.

"Then came the decision of the penalty. The ball was between the two players and it touched Wayne Bridge on the hand.

"In my view it was a harsh decision. It was not even the referee's decision -- it was his assistant. But not every time the ball touches the hand of a player it is a penalty -- if it is not deliberate it is not." E-mail to a friend