The 2006 Football League Cup Final also known as the 2006 Carling Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was played between Manchester United and Wigan Athletic on 26 February 2006. Manchester United won the match comfortably, by four goals to nil. Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored one goal, and Wayne Rooney scored twice. For the trophy presentation, the Manchester United players wore special shirts reading "For You Smudge", referring to Alan Smith, who had broken his left leg during a recent FA Cup match against Liverpool.[3] Wigan goalkeeper Mike Pollitt picked up a hamstring injury after just 14 minutes, cutting short a dream cup final for the journeyman player, who started his career with the Red Devils.
Manchester United
Round 3[4] |
Manchester United |
4–1 |
Barnet
|
Round 4 |
Manchester United |
3–1 |
West Bromwich Albion
|
Round 5 |
Birmingham City |
1–3 |
Manchester United
|
Semi-final (1st leg) |
Blackburn Rovers |
1–1 |
Manchester United
|
Semi-final (2nd leg) |
Manchester United |
2–1 |
Blackburn Rovers
|
|
(Man Utd won 3–2 on aggregate)
|
|
|
Match officials
Man of the match
|
Match rules
- 90 minutes
- 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
- Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
- Five named substitutes
- Maximum of three substitutions
|
Statistic[5]
|
United
|
Wigan
|
Total shots |
14 |
16
|
Shots on target |
9 |
7
|
Ball possession |
46% |
54%
|
Corner kicks |
1 |
5
|
Fouls committed |
11 |
13
|
Offsides |
3 |
2
|
Yellow cards |
1 |
1
|
Red cards |
0 |
0
|