An intense high-quality Carabao Cup final in which, unusually, every player on the pitch played a particularly strong game, full of incident, swings in momentum, great saves, missed chances, disallowed goals, potential red cards and a monumental penalty shootout – the game after extra time having finished 0-0 – in which all 20 on-field players scored their penalties, ended with Liverpool claiming their ninth League Cup, Jurgen Klopp’s first domestic trophy and the Reds the first of what is now a possible, if unlikely, quadruple.
And all this after Liverpool suffered a massive blow just before kick off, when Thiago Alcantara was ruled out with a tight hamstring during the warm-up.
The Spaniard has been outstanding in recent games and although his replacement Naby Keita played well enough, the lack of control, calmness and penetrating passing between the lines, was perhaps a decisive factor in Liverpool not being able to assert themselves over Chelsea.
Thus, it was Chelsea in the first half who had the better of the game and Mason Mount had several chances to put them ahead, only for Caoimhin Kelleher to keep Liverpool level, the Irish keeper showing that Klopp’s decision to start him ahead of normal starter Alisson Becker, as promised by Klopp, not for sentimental reasons or to reward him for his heroics in earlier rounds, but because he was up to the job.
Liverpool’s main opportunity came after a 20 yard low strike from Keita was parried by Edouard Mendy into the path of Sadio Mané, but the Reds striker, from three yards out, couldn’t lift the ball over his Senegalese compatriot who had dived at his feet to make a remarkable double save.
The second half and extra time was a tale of a potential red card, offsides and VAR.
First, Liverpool thought they had gone ahead on 64 minutes after a clever, training ground free kick. Trent Alexander Arnold clipped in a free kick to the far post for Mané to head across the six yard box where at the near post Joel Matip was waiting to stoop to nod the ball in the net from inches out.
Wild celebrations followed from players and supporters as Chelsea trudged to the halfway line to kick off, but by the time they got there VAR was casting its zealous eye at the goal and particularly the block Virgil van Dijk had applied to Rhys James as the Chelsea defender looked to get to Mané.
There was confusion as to why VAR decided Matip’s goal should be ruled out. Was Van Dijk’s block illegal or was the Dutch defender offside when the ball was clipped in? And if he was, then was his block deemed interfering in the game even if he didn’t touch the ball?
But ruled out it was, the first of four goals scored that were taken away for infractions. On 77 minutes, Kai Havertz’s header was ruled out by the linesmen for offside, while two Chelsea goals in extra time were snuffed out for similar reasons. VAR’s decision to confirm the invalidity of Romelu Lukaku’s goal was a surprise since the video seemed to show that Van Dijk was playing him onside, while Havertz’s strike was more obviously invalid.
The Reds were also lucky to keep 11 men on the pitch after a studs-up challenge from Keita caught Trevor Chalobah in the inner thigh. Stuart Atwell decided it was a 50-50, but if he had taken the view that Keita’s tackle was endangering an opponent, then the Liverpool midfielder would’ve had no reason to complain if he'd been sent for an early bath.
As penalties loomed, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel made the fateful decision to bring on Kepa Arrizabalaga for the excellent Mendy in the belief that the Spaniard was a better penalty stopper than the Senegalese.
Thus, in one of the most remarkable ever penalty shootouts, player after player stepped up to score, emphatically. For Liverpool the scorers were James Milner, Fabinho (with a Panenka, no less), Van Dijk, Alexander Arnold, Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Divock Origi, Andy Robertson, Harvey Elliott, Ibrahima Konaté and, finally, Kelleher – who didn’t save a single Chelsea penalty but ended up scoring the winning one after Kepa sent his spot kick to the moon.
