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EFL Cup - Final
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Liverpool win 11-10 on penalties

Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool: Reds win Carabao Cup final on penalties

By Phil McNultyChief football writer at Wembley

Last updated on .From the section League Cup

Kepa
Kepa Arrizabalaga missed the decisive penalty for Chelsea

Liverpool won a dramatic penalty shoot-out to secure the first domestic trophy of the season after a classic Carabao Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, brought on in the closing moments of extra time as a penalty specialist, missed the decisive spot-kick after a magnificent game came down to a shoot-out between Chelsea's keeper and his Liverpool counterpart Caoimhin Kelleher.

Kelleher made it 11 penalties from 11 for Liverpool but Kepa blazed wildly over the top as a high-class showpiece was decided by the finest of margins after 21 successful attempts.

Chelsea, who had three goals disallowed for offside, were left to rue two big misses by Mason Mount but they were also grateful for a magnificent display from keeper Edouard Mendy, who produced a string of outstanding saves.

Liverpool created a host of chances and had a Joel Matip goal ruled out for a foul and offside in an incident-packed game that went right down to the wire before Jurgen Klopp's side prevailed, for a record ninth League Cup success.

Kelleher rewards Klopp's faith

Liverpool's cup final shootout win was 'spectacular' - Klopp

Manager Jurgen Klopp made it clear as soon as Liverpool reached Wembley that Kelleher would retain his place as the Reds' goalkeeper in this competition ahead of first-choice Alisson.

It was a decision laced with an element of risk but the 23-year-old repaid Klopp with a complete performance that included scoring Liverpool's 11th and final penalty.

This was a small element of a remarkably assured performance that started with a crucial early save from Christian Pulisic and also saw him deny Chelsea a last-gasp win with a near-post block from Romelu Lukaku in the closing seconds of extra time.

Kelleher was composed in every aspect of his game as he dominated his area and handled everything that came his way, confirming his growing reputation as a goalkeeper of high promise.

Liverpool had to go all the way to win this trophy for the first time since 2012.

Klopp was forced into a late reshuffle after a tearful Thiago Alcantara was injured in the warm-up, drafting in Naby Keita as a late replacement.

Liverpool traded near misses with Chelsea as both teams refused to take a backward step and it was right that only penalties could separate the sides after an outstanding Wembley occasion.

Chelsea rue Mount misses

Mount will have a sleepless night after this EFL Cup final after missing two glorious chances either side of half-time that could have proved pivotal.

He somehow steered wide with the goal at his mercy just before the interval then, with time and space to spare, struck a finish against the post with Kelleher badly exposed.

On such small details this game was decided, although Chelsea will also look back on the most marginal of offside decisions that saw substitute Lukaku have a goal disallowed.

Manager Thomas Tuchel took an understandable gamble when he sent on Kepa in the final moments in the hope he would live up to his reputation as a penalty expert but he could not stop 11 spot-kicks from Liverpool before sending his own effort horribly high into the celebrating supporters behind Kelleher's goal.

Tuchel may wonder whether he should have kept the unbeatable Mendy on for penalties after his heroic performance but it is easy to be wise after the event and Kepa has proved his quality from penalties in the past.

There can be no complaints about the quality and effort in Chelsea's performance other than the failure to take the chances that came their way.

They demonstrated they belong in the Premier League's elite company alongside Liverpool and Manchester City and no-one would dismiss their chances of making amends for this disappointment by winning a different piece of silverware this season.

Player of the match

KelleherCaoimhin Kelleher

with an average of 8.51

Chelsea

  1. Squad number16Player nameMendy
    Average rating

    7.16

  2. Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
    Average rating

    6.36

  3. Squad number7Player nameKanté
    Average rating

    6.13

  4. Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
    Average rating

    6.06

  5. Squad number29Player nameHavertz
    Average rating

    5.97

  6. Squad number14Player nameChalobah
    Average rating

    5.88

  7. Squad number8Player nameKovacic
    Average rating

    5.82

  8. Squad number24Player nameJames
    Average rating

    5.64

  9. Squad number3Player nameAlonso
    Average rating

    5.62

  10. Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
    Average rating

    5.53

  11. Squad number19Player nameMount
    Average rating

    5.51

  12. Squad number10Player namePulisic
    Average rating

    5.50

  13. Squad number9Player nameLukaku
    Average rating

    5.16

  14. Squad number11Player nameWerner
    Average rating

    4.99

  15. Squad number5Player nameJorginho
    Average rating

    4.94

  16. Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
    Average rating

    3.30

Liverpool

  1. Squad number62Player nameKelleher
    Average rating

    8.51

  2. Squad number4Player namevan Dijk
    Average rating

    8.21

  3. Squad number23Player nameDíaz
    Average rating

    8.19

  4. Squad number26Player nameRobertson
    Average rating

    7.94

  5. Squad number3Player nameFabinho
    Average rating

    7.82

  6. Squad number32Player nameMatip
    Average rating

    7.82

  7. Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold
    Average rating

    7.78

  8. Squad number10Player nameMané
    Average rating

    7.68

  9. Squad number7Player nameMilner
    Average rating

    7.68

  10. Squad number5Player nameKonaté
    Average rating

    7.65

  11. Squad number14Player nameHenderson
    Average rating

    7.62

  12. Squad number67Player nameElliott
    Average rating

    7.60

  13. Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah
    Average rating

    7.53

  14. Squad number20Player nameDiogo Jota
    Average rating

    7.48

  15. Squad number27Player nameOrigi
    Average rating

    7.41

  16. Squad number8Player nameKeïta
    Average rating

    7.40

Line-ups

Chelsea

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 16MendySubstituted forArrizabalagaat 120'minutes
  • 14Chalobah
  • 6Thiago Silva
  • 2Rüdiger
  • 28AzpilicuetaSubstituted forJamesat 57'minutes
  • 7KantéBooked at 99mins
  • 8KovacicBooked at 90minsSubstituted forJorginhoat 105'minutes
  • 3Alonso
  • 19MountSubstituted forLukakuat 73'minutes
  • 10PulisicSubstituted forWernerat 74'minutes
  • 29HavertzBooked at 105mins

Substitutes

  • 1Arrizabalaga
  • 5Jorginho
  • 9Lukaku
  • 11Werner
  • 12Loftus-Cheek
  • 17Saúl
  • 20Hudson-Odoi
  • 24James
  • 31Sarr

Liverpool

Formation 4-3-3

  • 62Kelleher
  • 66Alexander-ArnoldBooked at 105mins
  • 32MatipSubstituted forKonatéat 90'minutes
  • 4van Dijk
  • 26Robertson
  • 14HendersonSubstituted forElliottat 79'minutes
  • 3Fabinho
  • 8KeïtaSubstituted forMilnerat 80'minutes
  • 11Salah
  • 10ManéSubstituted forJotaat 80'minutes
  • 23DíazSubstituted forOrigiat 97'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Alisson
  • 5Konaté
  • 7Milner
  • 15Oxlade-Chamberlain
  • 18Minamino
  • 20Jota
  • 21Tsimikas
  • 27Origi
  • 67Elliott
Referee:
Stuart Attwell
Attendance:
85,512

Match Stats

Home TeamChelseaAway TeamLiverpool
Possession
Home45%
Away55%
Shots
Home11
Away20
Shots on Target
Home4
Away6
Corners
Home2
Away11
Fouls
Home14
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Chelsea 0(10), Liverpool 0(11).

  2. Penalties over

    Penalty Shootout ends, Chelsea 0(10), Liverpool 0(11).

  3. Post update

    Penalty missed! Bad penalty by Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) right footed shot is too high. Kepa Arrizabalaga should be disappointed.

  4. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(10), Liverpool 0(11). Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.

  5. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(10), Liverpool 0(10). Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  6. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(9), Liverpool 0(10). Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  7. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(9), Liverpool 0(9). Thiago Silva (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  8. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(8), Liverpool 0(9). Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  9. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(8), Liverpool 0(8). Timo Werner (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  10. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(7), Liverpool 0(8). Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  11. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(7), Liverpool 0(7). N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  12. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(6), Liverpool 0(7). Divock Origi (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  13. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(6), Liverpool 0(6). Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  14. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(5), Liverpool 0(6). Diogo Jota (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  15. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(5), Liverpool 0(5). Jorginho (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  16. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(4), Liverpool 0(5). Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the top right corner.

  17. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(4), Liverpool 0(4). Reece James (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  18. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(3), Liverpool 0(4). Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  19. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(3), Liverpool 0(3). Kai Havertz (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.

  20. Post update

    Goal! Chelsea 0(2), Liverpool 0(3). Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.

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