Ben Foster explains how genius 'loophole' helped Man Utd pip Tottenham to major trophy

Ben Foster admits he studied Tottenham Hotspur's penalties on an old iPod before winning Manchester United the 2009 League Cup with his shootout heroics.

Foster spent much of his five years at United as back-up to various goalkeepers but was often used in various cup competitions, most commonly the League Cup. Sir Alex Ferguson tended to keep his second-choice between the posts throughout and that included finals, with Foster starting against Tottenham in 2009.

The teams played out a tense 0-0 draw inside 120 minutes and so Foster had his chance to become an unlikely hero, saving spot-kicks from Jamie O'Hara and David Bentley to help United win 4-1. He was given the Man of the Match award for his heroics and has revealed it was all down to some smart preparation.

"So basically yeah, Steely the goalkeeper coach he basically had them all on the iPod and he was showing me which way they all go," Foster said on Fozcast. "So the first penalty I saved was Jamie O'Hara, the Jamie O'Hara clips were telling me he was going to put it to my left, so I make the save. Boom.

Watch Michael Plant’s run through of Erik ten Hag’s pre-derby press conference here.

"Then I think it was David Bentley, and he put it wide but our lads were brilliant like we were ruthless. We had Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez just dispatching penalties, Heurelho Gomes in goal for Spurs didn't stand a chance."

Such preparation is commonplace nowadays, with Jordan Pickford recently in the limelight for having the records of opposition penalty takers taped to his water bottle. But it was far less regular back then and there were even questions as to whether it was fair.

Speaking to The Daily Mail at the time, former Premier League referee Graham Poll said the trick 'had the potential to exploit a loophole in the laws which should be referred to FIFA.'

Foster won a second League Cup with United the following year, although he was on the bench this time with Ferguson opting to start Polish international Tomasz Kuszczak. He would eventually leave Old Trafford the following summer and join Birmingham City, where he won a third straight League Cup.