By Safiu Kehinde
It all went down to the last man standing as Liverpool waited for Kepa Arrizabalaga’s penalty miss to emerge as the Carabao Cup champions at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday night.
Following a thrilling conversion of twenty penalties from both sides, the fate of each team was placed on the hands of their goalkeepers. Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher calmly slotted the ball past Chelsea’s penalty superhero, Kepa Arrizabalaga. Stepping up under Wembley’s floodlights and spectators’ flood of anxious eyes, Kepa went from hero to zero as he put the ball off the bar, gifting Liverpool the Carabao Cup.
Jurgen Klopp’s men and Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea kept the fans at the edge of their seats all through an entertaining 120 minutes of play. Both teams longed for a first English silverware of the season, but held on each other all through the regular 90 minutes.
Liverpool posed to be a big threat right from the first half, dominating the match against the champions of the world. The Kops bagged 6 shots on target which were well kept by Chelsea’s goalkeeper Eduoard Mendy.
Progressing into the second-half, Liverpool kept their momentum but were unable to get the best out of the stubborn Chelsea side. It was all square until Joel Matip gave Liverpool a feign hope after finding the back of the net. Unfortunately, his goal was disallowed.
Meanwhile, desperate to find the back of the net, Thomas Tuchel substituted club’s captain, Cesar Azpilicueta of Reece James while introducing Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner few minutes after.
Sensing the danger laid by his countryman, Jurgen Klopp brought on Harvey Elliot, James Milner, and Diogo Jota in the space of two minutes. Both teams still could not break the dreadlock as intensity and tempo filled the atmosphere.
Eventually, the game advanced into 30 minutes extra-time which also failed to provide a goal from both sides. With time tickling away, Thomas Tuchel made a big decision to substitute Eduoard Mendy for Kepa Arrizabalaga — considering the latter’s amazing penalty record.
After the twenty on-field players all found the back of the net, Kepa and Kelleher were up against each other for the decider. Kelleher slotted the ball in to give Liverpool 10-11 lead. That was all what Liverpool needed to walk home with the trophy as Kepa’s kick went off the bar.
