Liverpool won the Carabao Cup final after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
The first 21 penalties were all successfully converted after a great match ended goalless. Then Kepa Arrizabalaga, who came on at the end of extra time, hit the crossbar with his penalty.
Until that point, the contest had been dominated by two other goalkeepers: Caiomhin Kelleher and Edouard Mendy, who had combined to make a series of great saves to hold the score at 0-0.
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Throughout, a frenetic contest ebbed and went. Both teams had some fantastic attacking play, with Kai Havertz and Luis Diaz standing out in particular.
Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount both squandered great first-half chances, while Mendy made an incredible reaction save from Sadio Mane.
In the second half, Joel Matip thought he had put Liverpool ahead, but VAR intervened and the goal was disallowed due to offside against Virgil van Dijk in the build-up.
Chelsea then had three goals disallowed for offside — two by Havertz and one by Romelu Lukaku due to a razor-thin judgment.
Despite all of the opportunities, the game ended in penalties. Kepa was brought on by Thomas Tuchel to be the hero, just as he had been previously in the season in the Super Cup victory over Villarreal. Instead, he became the villain in a twist that no one could have predicted.
