Goalscoring Hero Elliott’s ‘Wonderful’ League Cup Semi-Final Memories
On 2 February, 2000 – eight days after a goalless draw at Villa Park – City hosted the 1982 European Cup winners at Filbert Street in a crunch semi-final second leg showdown to decide who would face Tranmere in the final at the world-famous Wembley Stadium.
Of their five League Cup fixtures leading up to the semi-finals, the Foxes had drawn three of those, with their second round tie ending in a 7-5 aggregate win against Crystal Palace, before they followed up a 2-0 success over Grimsby Town with a shootout triumph against Leeds United.
In the quarter-finals, meanwhile, they drew 3-3 with Fulham, as Ian Marshall and Steve Walsh scored inside the space of three minutes to force the clash to extra-time, while the former levelled matters again before the hosts won 3-0 on penalties.
That set up a two-legged clash with Villa, which, unsurprisingly, finished level in their first encounter before Elliott headed home a memorable winner just before the interval, which was followed up by a solid defensive display, coupled with some fine saves from Tim Flowers.
“I have many cherished memories, they’re still there lurking in the back of my mind somewhere!” joked Elliott as he reflected on his semi-final goal. “It does seem a long time ago, I have to say! [I’ve got] wonderful memories of the semi-final and afterwards, the final.
“Just around that whole era, that whole time was special for me and us as a group of players under Martin O’Neill. It was a wonderful period in our careers. That game, amongst a few others, really sticks out.
“I always remembered Sav (Robbie Savage) putting the cross in for my goal. [Emile] Heskey was holding it up well, he comes the ball in from Sav and sadly, who’s no longer with us, Ugo Ehiogu was the defender I managed to move away from.
“I took great joy in that header, just directing it back to where it comes from as you’re meant to do technically. David James clutching at thin air was quite a nice sight, actually, and the momentum of my movement sort of continued my celebration, it just sort of carried on from that”
The shaven-headed Elliott’s jog backwards, and manager Martin O’Neill’s leap of joy, became Foxes folklore as the TV cameras cut between the two to capture joyous celebrations between City players and staff alike.
“It wasn’t something I’d pre-planned,” he said of his celebration at Filbert Street. “A few people said that they liked my celebration, but it just happened off the cuff.
“I went offside and came back onside and that slightly deceived Ehiogu. It was a lovely ball in from Sav, more hopeful than anything, really. He just put it into an area and I just got good contact on it.
“I’ll give credit where it’s due to Sav, it was a decent ball in a decent zone. It was up to me to do the rest. I was up there anyway because I was deployed as a centre-forward that night, certainly in the first half, anyway, before Martin dragged me back into defence.
“Muzzy [Izzet] did well to nick the ball back to Sav after receiving it. The referee could have been forgiven for blowing for a foul there, as Muzzy went up in the air. Thankfully he didn’t as things might have been a lot different.
“Sav was an underrated player to be fair, not just in that instance. He was hard-working and chased all over the pitch. He had a bit of quality as well.”
Elliott’s header against John Gregory’s side, which included David James, Gareth Southgate and Gareth Barry, as well as ex-City star Julian Joachim, ultimately sealed a spot in the final, which took place at Wembley against Tranmere 25 days later.
“We knew it was a huge goal, yes, in terms of its bearing on the tie because in the away leg, the first leg, it was really tight with few chances and it wasn’t really entertaining,” said Elliott.
“It was quite dour and dogged in truth and we knew there wasn’t going to be too much between us in the second leg, so to get that advantage was huge. Also, once we got that, we felt as if it was meant to be ours, although we still had a lot of work to do.
“There were some close shaves in the second half and I remember Martin put me back in defence in the second half. That was a sign of how tight the game was. We got the lead, let’s hold onto it, basically, and then perhaps pinch something.
“I made a complete hash, though – I miskicked a clearance. I had my head in my hands and my heart in my mouth, really. Steve Stone went through, and Tim Flowers produced a brilliant save.
“Once that was made, I thought that’s their one and only proper chance. Tim did the stuff, what he’s there for, and produced the goods, and after that moment, there was no going back really.”
The celebrations at the full-time whistle, both on the pitch and the home dressing room at Filbert Street, produced some iconic images, but Elliott knew that the Foxes still had a huge task at hand if they were to lift their second League Cup in four years.
“It was partly relief because it had been such a tight encounter and you’re hopeful and dying to get to a Wembley final,” Elliott reflected. “The pressure on it had been released and [after] the realisation that we’d actually achieved it, then the fun started to kick in – the excitement and the pride really from an achievement.
“It’s still in the back of your mind, you know the real hard work was yet to be done, because we found out the year before. We had a good celebration after playing against Sunderland in the semi-final and went on against Tottenham and just didn’t perform.
“We were hugely frustrated but also motivated by that. Although it was a good night to beat Villa in a semi-final and all the furore about it, all the plaudits that we got – it was a great night and you go round the pitch and celebrate with the fans – everyone knows what’s coming, we’ve got to go and finish it off.
“We didn’t get too carried away, although, as you say, we celebrated in relative terms as best we could without getting too far ahead of ourselves.”
Leicester City face Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final first leg at King Power Stadium on Wednesday (8pm kick-off), with free commentary of the fixture available on LCFC Radio, starting with the Pre-Match Pint at 5pm.
All times GMT.