Liverpool won the Carabao Cup final after beating Chelsea 11-10 in an extraordinary penalty shootout at Wembley on Sunday.
After a brilliant match somehow finished goalless, the first 21 penalties were all converted successfully. Then Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was brought on at the end of extra-time, launched his penalty over the bar.
Until then, the match had been a story of two other goalkeepers: Caiomhin Kelleher and Edouard Mendy, who made a series of outstanding saves to keep the score at 0-0.
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A pulsating match ebbed and flowed throughout. There was some outstanding attacking play on both sides, with Kai Havertz and Luis Diaz especially impressive.
Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount missed excellent first-half chances for Chelsea, while Mendy made an astonishing reaction save from Sadio Mane.
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Joel Matip thought he had headed Liverpool into the lead in the second half, but VAR intervened and the goal was disallowed for an offside against Virgil van Dijk in the build-up.
Chelsea then had three goals of their own disallowed for offside – two by Havertz and one for an extremely tight decision against Romelu Lukaku.
Despite all the chances, the match drifted towards penalties. Thomas Tuchel brought Kepa on to be the hero, just as he was in the Super Cup win over Villarreal earlier in the season. Instead, in a twist that nobody could have foreseen, he was the villain. (The Athletic)
