- Liverpool beat Chelsea in extra time to seal the Carabao Cup in dramatic circumstances at Wembley
- Virgil van Dijk scored the winner in the closing minutes of extra time with a brilliant header from a corner
- Xabi Alonso is smart and will do what’s best for him. He won’t make an emotional decision about his next managerial job – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
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Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup in the dying minutes of extra time against Chelsea after captain Virgil van Dijk’s header secured a dramatic 1-0 victory in the final.
Van Dijk thought had scored a late winner for Liverpool when he avoided opposing defenders in the box and latched onto a header from Andy Robertson’s set-piece cross. Eventually his effort was ruled out by VAR.
Those decision-makers behind the screen perceived that an initially offside Wataru Endo had blocked Ben Chilwell from closing down Van Dijk as the Liverpool captain nodded his effort into the net.
Liverpool continued to threaten by encouraging players forward but almost came undone when Conor Gallagher smashed an effort against the post at the other end not long afterwards.
Cole Palmer similarly tried to pen Jurgen Klopp’s defenders retreating into their own box and almost fashioned an opening late in the match that was eventually cleared away.
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup in the dying minutes of extra time against Chelsea after captain Virgil van Dijk’s header secured a dramatic 1-0 victory in the final
Van Dijk found space at the front-post to nod Kostas Tsimikas’ corner delivery over Chelsea’s defence and into the bottom corner
Liverpool celebrate winning the first trophy of the season after overcoming a Chelsea side that appeared to be lacking in belief
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp looked emotional at full time as Liverpool sealed victory and a first trophy of the season
Chelsea should have won the match in the 86th minute as Gallagher was put one-v-one with Liverpool’s second-choice goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher who smothered the England international before he could get a proper shot away.
The 24-year-old wasted another chance just moments later when he sent a shot from the edge of the box sailing into the stands.
Pinball football threatened to break the resolve when Chelsea fashioned a series of efforts in stoppage time and one such move resulting in Kelleher somehow ending up with the ball in his hands.
Into extra time and Liverpool’s youth faced their biggest test yet, injuries including a mid-game problem for Ryan Gravenberch forced Klopp to use his energetic bench as Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Jayden Danns and Jarrell Quansah all came on.
Chelsea had the experience and chances to break the deadlock but lacked the required composure. Van Dijk did the opposite as he popped up in the final minutes of extra time to score from a late corner.
The Reds captain surged to the near-post and met Kostas Tsimikas’ delivery that was guided into the bottom corner.
