05 January 2021

Lucky number seven for Jose Mourinho? Spurs book boss another cup final outing

05 January 2021

Jose Mourinho has secured his seventh domestic cup final in English football, thanks to Tottenham’s 2-0 semi-final victory over Brentford.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the Portuguese manager’s record in major domestic finals.

Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2, League Cup final, February 27, 2005

Chelsea’s Damien Duff and Liverpool’s John Arne Riise battle for the ball (PA Archive)

John Arne Riise’s first-minute goal left Liverpool in front for the majority of the contest, until Steven Gerrard’s own goal with 11 minutes to play. Extra time duly followed, and as the legs sagged and the pace slowed, Chelsea stole the glory. First Didier Drogba stole in for a header, and then Mateja Kezman slotted home after Liverpool failed to clear from a Frank Lampard free-kick. Antonio Nunez pulled a late goal back for Liverpool, but to no avail – leaving Mourinho to scoop his first cup triumph on English soil.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1, League Cup final, February 25, 2007

Theo Walcott side-footed Arsenal into an early lead, claiming his first goal for the Gunners. Didier Drogba quickly levelled for Chelsea though, firing the Blues back onto level terms. Neither side could wrestle control until the closing stages though, until Drogba turned home an Arjen Robben cross, to seal the glory for Chelsea.

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0, FA Cup final, May 19, 2007

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba kisses the trophy (PA Archive)

A cagey affair proved goalless at full-time, and again for the bulk of extra time. Just when both teams would have been thinking about penalties though, Drogba traded passes with Lampard before prodding home, and that proved enough for the Blues.

Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0, League Cup final, March 1, 2015

Chelsea’s Diego Costa and John Terry with the trophy (PA Archive)

Mourinho’s first trophy in his second spell at Chelsea owed everything to goals from John Terry and Diego Costa. Terry saw a shot deflected off Eric Dier and into the net, just on half-time. Costa bagged his goal via a deflected effort too, after the interval.

Manchester United 3 Southampton 2, League Cup final, February 26, 2017

Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jesse Lingard had United expecting to dominate their way to victory. Manolo Gabbiadini had other ideas though, striking either side of half-time to level up the clash at 2-2. Southampton had chances to steal the glory but eventually wound up short – with Ibrahimovic showing his quality once again to snatch the winner.

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0, FA Cup final, May 19, 2018

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard celebrates with the FA Cup (PA Archive)

Mourinho’s first defeat in an English domestic cup final. Eden Hazard’s penalty proved enough to subdue United, after the Belgium star had been fouled by Phil Jones.

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