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John Terry swallowed his tongue. Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were in the middle of a huge rumble in the middle of the pitch. Theo Walcott popped his cherry. And Didier Drogba did what he does best: score goals and win games.

Remarkably event-filled Carling Cup final yesterday. Let’s start with Terry, who took a boot to the jaw as the Arsenal defense was trying to clear a corner that he was trying to head. He collapsed in a heap, passed out, swallowed his tongue, was taken to the hospital, and was back at the stadium to celebrate with his teammates. All in a night’s work. Here’s the video. Amazingly, Abou Diaby’s ankle looks like it took a worse injury away from that collision than Terry’s chin.

The bigger story will no doubt be the scuffle that ensued after Jon Obi Mikel pulled Kolo Toure down by his shirt as time was waning. Toure shoved him, a whole slew of players entered the fray, and before you know it, both managers and most of their teams were on the pitch. Cesc Fabregas and Frank Lampard were both shown yellow cards for being hotheads. Fabregas could have easily seen red, as he behaved like a genuine idiot.

Obi Mikel, Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor were shown red. Adebayor’s ejection sent the striker into a rage where he looked like he wanted to have at it with the head referee Howard Webb. He insists that was not the case, but when half a dozen people need to physically restrain you and drag you off the pitch, those words ring somewhat hollow. In Adebayor’s defense, while it did look like he might have pushed someone, the true aggressor, it seems, may have been Emmanuel Eboue, who allegedly punched Wayne Bridge in the face.

As for the actual game action, it was brilliant. Theo Walcott scored a pretty, pretty goal, showing deft touch and smooth finishing skills. And the rest of the Arsenal kids played beautifully. But Drogba at times literally looked a man amongst boys, scoring both goals for Chelsea, including one of the more impressive headers of the season. Arjen Robben also did a wonderful job of attacking both the left and right flanks and providing classy service.

In the end, the result was expected and deserved. Arsenal played beautiful football and Chelsea won the match.

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