Having never won a domestic cup in more than 10 years, Liverpool won the title for the first time under coach Jurgen Klopp with a breathtaking victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final with 22 penalties.
Desperate to win the 4th trophy within 9 months, Chelsea marched to Wembley Stadium on the morning of February 28 with great determination. Even the blockbuster contract Romelu Lukaku had to sit on the bench when he was not in the best form, giving up the responsibility to two young teammates Kai Havertz – Christian Pulisic on the attack "The Blues". In the back line, "spider-man" Edouard Mendy is still trusted while goalkeeper No. 2 Kepa is "saved" in case both sides have to go past extra time.
In the opposite field, coach Jurgen Klopp continued to use Caoimhin Kelleher in the wooden frame after the excellent performances of this number 2 goalkeeper in the cup front. Only a slight change when Thiago Alcantara was named in the starting line-up but due to an injury during the warm-up, he had to make room for Naby Keita. On the "Red Brigade" attack, the trio of Luis Diaz - Mo Salah - Sadio Mane started from the beginning with the explosive promises of a powerful goal-scoring team.
The scoreline was almost opened for Chelsea in the 6th minute, but after receiving a pass from Kai Havertz, Pulisic shot the ball into the range of goalkeeper Kelleher. Liverpool started a bit slow but then quickly sped up, responding to the opponent with two consecutive finishes by Naby Keita and Sadio Mane 30 minutes in. Unfortunately for "The Kop" when their chance was neutralized by Mendy's outstanding performance.
An unlucky day for the strikers of both teams when Mason Mount alone missed up to 3 opportunities at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second half, including a situation where the ball bounced off the goal post.
On the Liverpool side, midfielder Joel Matip once put the ball into the net with a header in the 67th minute but VAR refused to recognize the goal. Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz also could not beat the Chelsea defense in close-range shots.
Forced to strengthen the attack, coach Thomas Tuchel launched the duo Lukaku and Werner into the field. The pressure increased significantly and in the 78th minute, Havertz sent the ball over the Liverpool goal line, but Werner fell into an offside position earlier.
In the last minutes of official time, the two goalkeepers alternately worked extremely hard to save the home net against the fierce acceleration from both sides.
Entering extra time, Chelsea twice brought the ball into the net of Liverpool thanks to the goals of Lukaku and Havertz, but both were disallowed for offside. In the 119th minute, coach Tuchel used the last substitution to launch "penalty-taking expert" Kepa Arrizabalaga into the field, confidently confronting the penalty shootout. This is the most remarkable turning point of the match.
22 penalty shootouts is a hard-to-break record in English football history when all players present on the field of both teams successfully completed their kicks without a single mistake. It was the turn of the goalkeepers to step in and Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool took the free-kick brilliantly like a real striker with enough danger to beat his colleague Kepa. Stepping up to the last 11mm mark, Kepa hoped to shoot the ball straight into the sky, giving Liverpool the victory and League Cup title in the most unexpected scenario.
The championship marks the first time Liverpool have won the League Cup after more than a decade of waiting and coach Jurgen Klopp's teachers and students will definitely see this as a momentum step to conquer all the remaining fronts of the season.
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