Cardiff's route to Wembley

Back in August a trip to Oxford United marked the start of a memorable journey for Cardiff City.

First Round (a) v Oxford 10/08/11 - won 3-1 aet

Cardiff were forced to extra time by a spirited display from npower League Two outfit Oxford. Craig Conway handed the Bluebirds the lead with his first goal in Cardiff colours but Simon Clist levelled for the hosts. Not to be outdone, Peter Whittingham and Nat Jarvis scored in the extra 30 minutes to send Cardiff through.

Second Round (h) v Huddersfield 23/08/11 - won 5-3 aet

The npower Championship side were made to go the distance once again, but sealed progression at a canter in extra time. Gabor Gyepes and Jon Parkin put Cardiff two goals up, only for Jordan Rhodes and Danny Ward to level matters for Huddersfield. Rhodes gave his side the lead but Don Cowie took the game into extra time, where Conway and Cowie netted to earn the Bluebirds the win.

Third Round (h) v Leicester 25/09/11 - won 7-6 on penalties aet after 2-2 draw

Another long slog for Cardiff, who went in front through Cowie before Steve Howard equalised for Leicester. Lloyd Dyer put the Foxes ahead but Rudy Gestede scored from 25 yards to force extra time. After a goalless additional 30 minutes, the first dozen players netted in the shoot-out before Gelson Fernandes ballooned his effort over the bar and Paul Quinn stepped up to fire Cardiff into round four.

Fourth round (h) v Burnley 25/10/11 - won 1-0

Cardiff finally managed to avoid extra time as Joe Mason scored the only goal of the game to send the Bluebirds into their first League Cup quarter-final since 1965. Mason curled home a left-footed effort from the edge of the penalty area five minutes before the break to secure safe passage for Cardiff, who withstood a barrage of late Burnley pressure.

Quarter-final (h) v Blackburn 29/11/11 - won 2-0

Set against the tragic backdrop of Wales national team manager Gary Speed's untimely death two days earlier, Cardiff briefly lifted the gloom in south Wales by seeing off Barclays Premier League opposition. Kenny Miller fired the Bluebirds in front with less than 20 minutes gone, while Filip Kiss added a second after half-time to heap further pressure on beleaguered Rovers boss Steve Kean.

Semi-final first leg (a) v Crystal Palace 10/01/12 - lost 1-0

Anthony Gardner's goal two minutes before the interval settled the first leg in favour of the London outfit. Gardner pounced to nod home Mile Jedinak's flick-on after Cardiff keeper Tom Heaton had failed to claim Darren Ambrose's free-kick. Miller had what seemed a perfectly good equaliser disallowed by referee Mike Dean in the second half.

Semi-final second leg (h) v Crystal Palace 24/01/12 - won 1-0 (1-1 on aggregate, won 3-1 on penalties aet)

On a dramatic night at the Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff booked their place at Wembley when Jonathan Parr missed from the spot for Palace in the shoot-out. Earlier, Gardner put through his own net to level the tie and Cardiff bombarded their guests throughout. Palace captain Paddy McCarthy was sent off and the Eagles played 43 minutes with 10 men before Heaton saved from Sean Scannell and Jermaine Easter from 12 yards prior to Parr's fluffed effort.