Liverpool have beaten rivals Chelsea in a dramatic penalty shootout to win the 2022 Carabao Cup. This is a record breaking 9th Carabao Cup for the Reds, after title rivals Manchester City equalized the number of Carabao Cups won. The final was once again hosted in the historic Wembley Stadium.
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The first half was dominated by the two teams, with both Liverpool and Chelsea dominating stretches of the half. Chelsea started the match on the right foot creating multiple chances but not being clinical enough. Chelsea had more clear cut chances to score than Liverpool, but the Reds didn’t disappoint with their flexible front line of Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz hurting the Chelsea defence on multiple occasion.
The second half like the first didn’t lack chances but unfortunately lacked clinical finishing from the two sets of players. The highlight of the half came in the 69th minute when the referee controversially ruled out a Liverpool goal for an offside interference from towering defender Virgil Van Dijk. The half also saw Chelsea player Kai Havertz score an offside header.
Another offside goal was present in extra time, this time with a nice Romelu Lukaku run and finish. The removal of the goal was again highly contested with only Lukaku’s arm being in an offside position. Both teams looked very tired come extra time and that led to another 30 minutes without any goals resulting in a penalty shootout. Before the final whistle blew Chelsea managed to substitute keeper Edouard Mendy for penalty specialist keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
What the match lacked in goals scored, the penalty shootout certainly didn’t. Both set of keepers couldn’t save one penalty from all the outfield players with result being decided on the keepers’ penalties. Liverpool second keeper Caoimhin Kelleher handled the pressure of his first final incredibly scoring his penalty. Kepa on the other hand couldn’t handle the pressure missing the penalty in incredible fashion placing the ball way over the bar.
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