Liverpool won the League Cup final in dramatic fashion as Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missed the decisive penalty to give the Reds an 11-10 shootout victory after a pulsating 0-0 draw at Wembley this past Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side clinched their first domestic knockout prize since the 2012 League Cup when Kepa blazed his spot kick high over the bar.
It was the only miss in the nerve-jangling shootout, where Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher score his penalty just before Kepa failed.
Ironically, Kepa was sent on at the end of extra time to replace Edouard Mendy given his reputation as a penalty-saving specialist, but the Spaniard was unable to repel any of Liverpool’s kicks.
While there were no goals in 120 minutes, this was a fascinating final which produced countless chances for both sides to win it before the cruel denouement.
Liverpool saw Joel Matip’s second-half goal controversially disallowed for a marginal offside against Virgil van Dijk, while Chelsea had three goals ruled out for offside later in the match.
Chelsea paid for a series of missed chances, with Christian Pulisic wastefully guiding his close-range effort straight at Kelleher in the opening minutes.
Mendy sprawled to his right to repel Naby Keita’s 20-yard drive, then scrambled across to push Sadio Mane’s close-range follow-up over the bar with one hand when it seemed certain he would score.
Chelsea should have been ahead before the interval when Pulisic found Havertz and he clipped a cross towards Mason Mount, who somehow volleyed wide from eight yards with the goal at his mercy.
Incredibly, Mount managed an even worse miss early in the second half, scuffing his shot against the post after Pulisic’s deft chip left his teammate completely unmarked inside the area.
Chelsea escaped in the 67th minute when Matip nodded Mane’s header into the roof of the net from close range.
Liverpool’s celebrations were well over by the time Attwell consulted the pitchside monitor and disallowed the goal for offside against Van Dijk.
The intensity was unrelenting from both teams and Havertz saw his header disallowed for a much-clearer offside than the one that denied Klopp’s side.
Romelu Lukaku, introduced after being left on the bench for a second successive game, thought he had put Chelsea ahead in extra time, but a debatable offside decision disallowed his clinical finish.
Havertz was also denied a goal by another offside flag, setting the stage the Liverpool to win it in the shootout.