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LONDON. — Liverpool beat Chelsea 11-10 on penalties to win the Carabao Cup after a breathless final ended in a goalless draw at Wembley last night.
Thomas Tuchel made one mistake. He brought on Chelsea’s specialist penalty goalkeeper.
Not only did Kepa Arrizabalaga not save one of Liverpool’s 11 efforts from the spot — the entire team put one past him — he then sent his own spot-kick, the 22nd of the match, into orbit halfway up the Liverpool end. And so Jurgen Klopp and his players landed the first domestic trophy of the season, after vone of the finest goalless draws it is possible to have witnessed, which Chelsea shaded on good scoring chances, but could not finish.
Mason Mount missed two sitters, Christian Pulisic one and there were four goals disallowed — three for Chelsea, one for Liverpool. Left to their own devices the players then found the net 21 times before Arrizabalaga — who had been introduced with a minute of extra-time remaining, as Chelsea’s expert in the field — skied his effort to gift the spoils to Liverpool.
Tuchel had made the same move in the UEFA Super Cup final at the start of the season, with different results. The irony is that, until his late removal, Edouard Mendy, Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper, had been the best player on the field.
As for Arrizabalaga, it was here at Wembley where he had previously blotted his Chelsea career, refusing to be substituted in this match, when appearing to be injured. And it could well be his final act in a Chelsea shirt, with a move likely in the summer. Signed for a world record fee, it is no way to end his career in London.
Might Chelsea have taken the lead in extra time? It certainly looked so. Lukaku broke away, checked inside, then shot low past Kelleher.
Once the ball was in the next, the flag went up for offside. But was it? Replays seemed to suggest not. Yet referee Stuart Attwell got a signal to say the gods of VAR were satisfied.
The problem with this technology is that, increasingly, it seems to mean whatever the powers want it to mean. Havertz also scored in the second period of injury time, but that was offside in the way we would all define it.
The deadlock remained unbroken at the end of the second-half, too, but the spectacle remained undimmed. High tempo, high action, and chances at either end, Mount spurned another wonderful opportunity for Chelsea. Pulisic put him through and Liverpool’s back line was static, caught out, leaving him with only Kelleher to beat. He slipped the ball past him only to see it hit the post. On the touchline, Tuchel fell to his knees and beat the ground in despair.
Then it was Liverpool’s turn. Another kicking error by Mendy saw the ball come back, Mane to Salah who was suddenly speeding towards goal. He went for a delicate chip and somehow Silva sped past two team-mates to clear off the line. Where he derives the energy at his age, who knows?
Finally, a goal. In the 67th minute, Alexander-Arnold delivered a free-kick that was met by Mane at the far post. He headed the ball down, it bounced up and Joel Matip got in front of Silva to head into an empty net.
And then, as is the modern way, we waited. Something had turned up in forensics. — Mailonline
Online Reporter