Sports

Liverpool lift Carabao trophy, beat Chelsea 11-10 on penalties

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2022

Liverpool beat Chelsea 11-10 on penalties to win the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday after the match finished 0-0 following extra-time.

Both sides suffered the frustration of having goals ruled out by VAR for offside and neither was able to break the deadlock in 120 minutes of action.

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 shoot-out, which saw 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.

The Reds have lifted the League Cup a record nine times, moving ahead of Manchester City, while Klopp is the first German manager to win the tournament after finally tasting Wembley success following two previous defeats as a boss there.

Liverpool remain in contention for an unprecedented quadruple after closing the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to six points with a game in hand.

They are on course for the Champions League quarter-finals after a last 16 first-leg win at Inter Milan and host Norwich in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday.

While the match was a memorable occasion, there was a sombre beginning as Liverpool and Chelsea players united in a show of support for war-torn Ukraine.

Amid the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson carried flowers in the country’s yellow and blue colours onto the pitch.

Both teams stood for a minute’s applause, while a message on the stadium scoreboard in yellow and blue read “Football Stands Together”.

For Chelsea, this was a painful end to a difficult week, which saw Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich on Saturday announce that he is “giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care” of the club.

Abramovich, who will remain the club’s owner, made the move after calls in the UK Parliament for Russian oligarchs to be stripped of their assets.

Now Chelsea must focus on retaining the Champions League while aiming for a top-four finish and a potential return to Wembley in the FA Cup. (AFP)

Related Topics:Carabao Chelsea Liverpool

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Liverpool crash out of Europa as Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta win 3-1 agg

Published

7 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Trends Admin

Liverpool crash out of Europa as Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta win 3-1 agg

Italian Serie A side, Atalanta, on Thursday night knocked out Liverpool from the quarter final stage of the Europa League, with 3-1 goal aggregate.

Liverpool were eliminated from the Europa League despite beating Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo, Italy via Mohamed Salah‘ lone seventh minute penalty goal.

The 3-0 deficit from the first leg at Anfield last week Thursday had done enough damage.

Nigerian international, Ademola Lookman, made a 80th minute appearance during the game.

Trent Alexander-Arnold cross was handled in the box to give Liverpool hope of upturning the deficit but that was not to be.

As the first half drew to a close, the Egypt forward lofted well wide when put through one-on-one, but Klopp’s side struggled to create meaningful openings in the second period.

It marks the end of a difficult 12 days for the Reds, who drew at Manchester United and lost at home to Crystal Palace to surrender their lead at the top of the Premier League.

Attention will now turn back to the title race with Liverpool sitting third behind second-placed Arsenal and two points off leaders Manchester City.

The league now represents their final chance to give Klopp a fairytale ending to his eight and a half years on Merseyside and add to their success in the Carabao Cup in February.

Sports

Europa: Martinez two penalty saves power Aston Villa into S’final

Published

7 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Trends Admin

Europa: Martinez two penalty saves power Aston Villa into S’final

Aston Villa on Thursday qualified for their first major European semi-final since 1982 with a dramatic victory on penalties over Lille in the Europa Conference League.

According to a THISDAY report, an extraordinary shootout after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate after extra time, Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez – who had been booked earlier for time-wasting – was shown another yellow card for appearing to gesture to home fans.

Martinez, who had already kept out Nabil Bentaleb’s attempt, was allowed to carry on as his initial booking was not carried over into the shootout.

The Argentina World Cup winner then went on to keep out Benjamin Andre’s attempt as Villa won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the last four.

Matty Cash’s late goal in the 87th minute forced an extra 30 minutes after Yusuf Yasici opener in the 15th minute and Benjamin Andre’s 67th strike had seen Lille come from a 2-1 deficit from the first leg to lead the tie 3-2.

But nothing could separate the sides after 210 minutes and two legs, needing penalties to decide the quarter-final.

And it was marred in confusion. Martinez – who saved two spot kicks to send Aston Villa through – had already been booked in the first half for time wasting, and was shown another yellow card during the shootout.

Ever the performer, Martinez had ‘shushed’ the crowd after saving from Remy Cabella, leading to objects being thrown at him. He then gestured again to them, appearing to ask them to stop, and then was booked.

It left many wondering why the accumulation of two yellows did not result in a red. However, rules of the competition state that no yellow cards from the game carry over into shoot-outs, and therefore Martinez was not sent off.

He continued to take part in the penalty shootout, saving the final spot kick from Andre and seeing Aston Villa into their first European semi-final since 1982.