1998 Football League Cup final
# 1998 Football League Cup final

The 1998 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Chelsea and Middlesbrough on 29 March 1998 at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea, under new manager Gianluca Vialli, won with two extra time goals and won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup later that season. Middlesbrough's second consecutive defeat in the final was followed by promotion back to the Premier League after just one season.

Both teams were restricted to shots from distance. This all changed in extra time when Chelsea took control. Frank Sinclair, a villain in the 1994 FA Cup Final defeat when conceding a penalty and slipping to allow Mark Hughes to score, became the hero in this match. He started the move that ended with his header finding the corner of the Middlesbrough net to open the scoring. Chelsea's second goal came from Roberto Di Matteo. A corner played into the near post was not cleared by the Boro defence and Di Matteo was able to side foot the ball into the net on the half-volley. Di Matteo had come back to haunt Middlesbrough as he had scored the opening goal when the same sides met in the 1997 FA Cup Final the previous season. Once again Chelsea had won 2–0.

## Road to Wembley

| Chelsea     Round 3: Chelsea 1–1 Blackburn Rovers (Chelsea won 4–1 on penalties) Round 4: Chelsea 2–1 Southampton Quarter-final: Ipswich Town 2–2 Chelsea (Chelsea won 4–1 on penalties) Semi-final, 1st leg: Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea Semi-final, 2nd leg: Chelsea 3–1 Arsenal | Middlesbrough Round 2, 1st leg: Middlesbrough 1–0 Barnet Round 2, 2nd leg: Barnet 0–2 Middlesbrough Round 3: Middlesbrough 2–0 Sunderland   Round 4: Middlesbrough 2–1 Bolton Wanderers a.e.t. Quarter-final: Reading 0–1 Middlesbrough   Semi-final, 1st leg: Liverpool 2–1 Middlesbrough Semi-final, 2nd leg: Middlesbrough 2–0 Liverpool |
| - | - |

## Match facts

| Chelsea | Middlesbrough |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Ed de Goey |
| RWB | 2 | Dan Petrescu | 75' |
| CB | 5 | Frank Leboeuf |
| CB | 12 | Michael Duberry |
| CB | 20 | Frank Sinclair |
| LWB | 14 | Graeme Le Saux |
| CM | 16 | Roberto Di Matteo |
| CM | 11 | Dennis Wise (c) |
| CM | 24 | Eddie Newton |
| CF | 25 | Gianfranco Zola |
| CF | 10 | Mark Hughes | 83' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 13 | Kevin Hitchcock |
| DF | 6 | Steve Clarke | 75' |
| FW | 19 | Tore André Flo | 83' |
| Manager: ||
| Gianluca Vialli ||
| GK | 1 | Mark Schwarzer |
| RB | 2 | Gianluca Festa |
| CB | 4 | Steve Vickers |
| CB | 5 | Nigel Pearson (c) |
| LB | 3 | Vladimír Kinder |
| RM | 10 | Paul Merson |
| CM | 6 | Robbie Mustoe |
| CM | 7 | Neil Maddison | 102' |
| LM | 11 | Andy Townsend |
| CF | 8 | Hamilton Ricard | 65' |
| CF | 9 | Marco Branca |
| Substitutes: ||
| DF | 12 | Curtis Fleming |
| FW | 13 | Mikkel Beck | 102' |
| MF | 14 | Paul Gascoigne | 65' |
| Manager: ||
| Bryan Robson ||
