CARDIFF: Chelsea won the first all-London League Cup Final, defeating Premiership rivals Arsenal 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium here on Sunday. 

But the match ended in controversy, with Arsenal down to nine men and Chelsea 10 after a trio of red cards from referee Howard Webb. After a mass scuffle late on, that saw Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger come on to the field, Arsenal had Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor sent-off while Chelsea’s Jon-Obi Mikel was red-carded.

Didier Drogba scored twice for Chelsea although the winner didn’t arrive until the 84th minute after Arsenal teenager Theo Walcott had given the Gunners an early lead. But Premiership champions Chelsea’s joy at securing another trophy was tempered by captain John Terry’s latest injury setback. The central defender was kicked in the face by Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby as he tried to head towards goal.  

England skipper Terry’s neck was put in a brace as he was taken from the field on a stretcher. Terry had only been declared fit to play against Arsenal after making a quicker than expected recovery from an ankle injury he had suffered against Porto in Wednesday’s Champions League draw. Wenger stuck to his policy of giving stars such as Thierry Henry, Gilberto, Freddie Ljungberg and William Gallas a break when it came to the League Cup and playing the likes of Walcott instead. 

The former Southampton forward, controversially included in England’s World Cup squad last year, scored in the 12th minute when, after a one-two with Diaby he evaded the Chelsea defence before, in the style of Henry, precisely sidefooting the ball into the far corner.

However, Chelsea equalised eight minutes later when Michael Ballack’s ball over the top found Ivory Coast forward Drogba, who scored his 27th goal of the season. Chelsea, fielding their first XI, saw England midfielder Frank Lampard’s shot rattle the crossbar before Drogba’s 84th minute header from Arjen Robben’s cross made it 2-1. Blues striker Andriy Shevchenko then nearly put the result beyond doubt only for his shot to hit the woodwork.

Keane helps Spurs beat Bolton 

Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane had a Sunday to remember when he scored two goals, set-up another and was then sent off in the first 36 minutes of his side’s 4-1 home league win over Bolton Wanderers.  Keane fired the first goal after 11 minutes and Jermaine Jenas got the second on the rebound after 19 when a Keane shot was parried by Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Ireland striker then dinked in the third in the 22nd minute