February 27, (THEWILL) – Liverpool have claimed the English Football League (EFL) Cup for the 2021/2022 season after a series of nail-biting penalty shootouts.
Jurgen Klopp’s side battled co-finalists Chelsea in a tense, high-quality League Cup final, with a couple of goals thrown out for offside, leading to the Reds’ 11-10 shootout victory.
Following the thrilling drama of their journey to Wembley, Liverpool’s quest for their first trophy of the season came down to a match against Chelsea, and they were struck an early setback when Thiago withdrew during the warmup.
The game began at a frenzied pace, and Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was forced to make a strong point-blank save to keep Christian Pulisic out.
As the half progressed, Liverpool took command, with Luis Diaz being a constant threat on the left flank, troubling Trevoh Chalobah, and their counter-pressing strategy wearing down their opponents.
On the half-hour mark, Edouard Mendy made a fantastic double stop, first from Naby Keita’s long-range drive and then from Sadio Mane’s close-range effort – which the Liverpool number 10 should have converted.
Chelsea also had a good chance at the conclusion of the half, but Mason Mount sent his volley past of Kelleher’s post after Mane’s indecision allowed them to break.
Mount’s opportunities continued coming, and just minutes after the restart, the midfielder found himself in space, only to sidefoot the ball against the post when one-on-one with Kelleher.
Chelsea were forced to make a change before the hour mark, with Reece James replacing an injured Cesar Azpilicueta, putting the Englishman to the test against a lively Diaz.
Salah had a one-on-one after Mendy’s poor kick, but the number 11 put too little on his chip, and a retreating Thiago Silva made it there to clear.
Soon after, Liverpool thought they had taken the lead when Joel Matip smashed the ball into the roof of the net, only for the goal to be ruled out due to a slight infraction by Virgil van Dijk.
Klopp called in the reinforcements, sending on James Milner and Harvey Elliott – who was not even on the teamsheet when it was first printed – to mix up the middle, with Diogo Jota taking over from Mane.
The game became heated, and the addition of six minutes of stoppage time was followed by a magnificent save from Mendy to deny Van Dijk’s header and another from Kelleher to stop Romelu Lukaku.
In extra time, Klopp went back to his bench, swapping Ibrahima Konate for Matip in an apparent attempt to counter Timo Werner’s increased pace on the left. The first 15 minutes were a stalemate, with both teams’ tired legs obviously visible, despite Lukaku’s goal questionably being called out for offside.
A late substitution, with Mendy being replaced by Kepa, set up a penalty shootout nicely but even if the Spaniard did not end up stopping any penalty kicks from the Reds, he instead handed them the victory by missing the 22nd spot-kick allowing Liverpool to clinch the League Cup.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
