Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2

Chelsea's new era under the ownership of Roman Abramovich and the management of Jose Mourinho has yielded its first silverware after an engrossing 3-2 success over Liverpool in the Carling Cup final.

Liverpool had looked to have earned Rafa Benitez his first trophy in English football when John Arne Riise struck after just 45 seconds but an own goal from Steven Gerrard took the game into a pulsating period of extra-time.

Goals from Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman put a tentative blue hand on the trophy before Antonio Nunez cause palpertations for those in West London with a late strike of his own.

Managerial talk this season has primarily revolved around the musings of Jose Mourinho but in Cardiff it was his counterpart, Rafa Benitez that landed the first tactical surprise.

Harry Kewell, a player who has languished at Anfield through injury and a lack of form, having only just returned from a prolonged spell on the sidelines was handed a start - Milan Baros left looking glum on the bench.

Liverpool crowded the midfield from the onset and with Chelsea, for once, lacking cohesion, Benitez's side went for the throat of Mourinho's men early.

From the kick-off, when Luis Garcia failed to spot Riise drifting free off the left channel, the Norwegian looked disgusted at his Spanish team-mate.

Chelsea, and in particular Paolo Ferreira, would not heed the warning. After Garcia lost possession, Morientes made his way down the right channel but only this time Riise was found.

After Morientes' cross made its way over the head of a ball-watching Ferreira, Riise connected gloriously to arch an arrow of a hit across the body of Peter Cech to send the red of half of Cardiff into ecstasy and further sink those in blue.

Chelsea without Arjen Robben have become somewhat of a bird with clipped wings and at times in the first period, the explosive pace and penetration he offers was sorely missed.

Having ascertained a lead so early, Liverpool were caught in a quandary of whether to sit or to continue with a positive pressing game.

For the most part they found a suitable balance between the two, as while Chelsea bossed possession, Liverpool were thunderous in the tackle and not without wit when breaking.

It would take twenty minutes before Jerzy Dudek was called into action, clasping on to a Frank Lampard free-kick hit with power but too straight to ever cause real consternation.

Gerrard, fresh from an enforced absence in midweek, looked pleadingly at referee Steve Bennett after being hauled down by Claude Makelele in the penalty area on the half hour mark, before at the opposite end, Chelsea conjured their best chance.

A previously peripheral Joe Cole showed a glimpse of his maverick capabilities with a cute through ball but when closing on goal, Drogba could only stab into the body of Dudek for a corner.

From the resulting set piece John Terry found Lampard but his towering header was cleared off the line by Garcia.

As the half drew to its close, the Premiership leaders began to grind out control with some sharp passing but created little in terms of genuine opportunities.

Chelsea's lack of guile in the final third had not gone unnoticed on the bench and it came as no surprise when Mourinho summoned Eidur Gudjohnsen to replace surprise inclusion Jiri Jarosik at half time.

The tempo was immediately upped in the second period, with Mourinho animate on the touchline - urging greater and greater exertions from his on-field troops.

With Liverpool retreating deeper, Cole clipped a great cross onto the head of Gudjohnsen but from the Icelander's connection Dudek flung himself to his right to save in some style.

From the rebound, William Gallas fired at goal but again the much maligned Pole was ready to thwart for a corner.

After Kewell was withdrawn for Nunez, Morientes was left as an isolated target man and it was he that was the architect of Liverpool's best move of the second period.

The former Real Madrid favourite disguised an astute pass beyond the Chelsea backline to find Garcia and from his compatriot's cross, a surprisingly advanced Didi Hamann bent a classy effort with the outside of his right foot but Cech was equal to it to keep Chelsea in contention.

Gallas saw an inviting cross cleared over his own bar by Riise before Ferreira partially atoned for his earlier error by denying Gerrard a certain goal from Nunez's cut-back.

With Chelsea legs looking heavy after a midweek trip to Barcelona, Ferreira swung in a nothing free-kick from the right, Gerrard beat Riise in the air to head the ball backwards and beyond his own goalkeeper, for the most unlikely of levellers on 78 minutes.

Mourinho's exertions on the touchline proved too much for the match officials with ten minutes remaining and he was sent-off before Dudek again saved his team-mates with an excellent stop from Duff after an excellent Lampard pass.

With Liverpool's morale understandably sunk, Chelsea made strides for a winner that saw Duff denied by an important deflection and Lampard ping a snapshot narrowly over.

On the counter, Baros failed to beat the angle in injury time when he fired a shot over on the stretch from Igor Biscan's lobbed pass.

Extra-time mirrored much of what had preceded but whilst the ball spent most of its time in Liverpool's half, it was Hamann that forced the opening period's only save when he tested Cech from distance.

Biscan will also be left ruing an opportunity squandered when he could only power his header over the top from Garcia's cross, following a cleverly worked free-kick.

Then came Drogba's first real installment on the investment made for his services by Abramovich. When Sami Hyypia failed to deal with Glen Johnson's long throw, the powerful hit man cushioned the ball on his knee before poking past Dudek.

With Liverpool broken, Gudjohnsen fired the ball across a crowded box and after a deflection caused panic, substitute Kezman was on hand to stab home for Chelsea's third.

The Carling Cup was in all likelihood already being etched with Chelsea's name when with five minutes remaining, Gerrard's whipped delivery from the left was not dealt with - leaving Nunez to stoop to head over an unsighted Cech.

Liverpool cannot be faulted for their efforts in the final moments but it is Chelsea who remain on course for a treble, after what was one of the best League Cup finals in its 45 year history.

Liverpool	Team Statistics	Chelsea
2	Goals	3
1	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	9
5	Shots off Target	10
2	Blocked Shots	6
2	Corners	8
24	Fouls	17
2	Offsides	6
4	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
69.7	Passing Success	77.1
58	Tackles	51
67.2	Tackles Success	60.8
39.1	Possession	60.9
43.5	Territorial Advantage	56.5