It was time for the long awaited League Cup Final for Year 6 featuring Liverpool from Division 1 and Manchester City from Division 2. There had been problems at Wembley prior to the match, as the groundman’s lawn mower had gone wrong, so the chequered pitch design had been scrapped and replaced at the last minute with a much simpler striped pattern. There tends not to a be a member of the Royal family at the League Cup, so the star guests this year were pop royalty in the Pet Shop Boys. They performed some of their classic songs before the game, such as ‘You Know Where You Went Wrong’, ‘I Get Excited’ and ‘One of the Crowd’. Although most of the crowd had never heard such songs before, they seemed good choices to get the crowd livened up. After the customary hand shakes, it was on to the match itself.
Liverpool were designated as the home team, so they got to kick off for the Final. They went straight into attack mode and pressured the Man City defence. Liverpool were relentless as they piled on the pressure, winning corner after corner. Man City could not get possession of the ball and were trapped in their own half. Liverpool’s best chance came with a long range shot that bounced off the crossbar. It was a lucky escape for Man City.
Eventually City got themselves into the match and began some attacks of their own. It was late in the first half that City put a superb move together and suddenly they were presented with a golden chance. The City striker did not have to think twice and hammered the ball past the Liverpool keeper and into the far corner.
Liverpool knew it was key that they had to score next. They pushed more players forward to push back the City side, but it left them exposed at the back. Every time City won the ball, Liverpool had to race back to defend. City were getting close to scoring a second as they hit the post twice with further attacks.
Eventually the attacking formation caught Liverpool out as a defensive player tagged a City player on the edge of the box. The referee awarded City a direct free kick. Liverpool lined up a wall but it was not enough. The ball blasted through the wall and past the goalkeeper. 2-0 to City.
Liverpool knew their time was up and it was unlikely they could score two goals in the time remaining. They did not give up, but City were happy to take the ball into wider areas and play out the clock. It almost paid off once more as they hit the post again as they nearly scored a third. The final minutes ran down and City were declared the winners.
It is Manchester City’s first major trophy and the second time a Division 2 team has won the League Cup, after Tottenham won it in Year 3.
The results for all of Year 6’s League Cup games can be found here.
