Liverpool and Chelsea have met three times in the last three seasons in domestic cup finals! In the first two duels, the Blues were defeated on penalties. In Sunday's Carabao Cup final, the two teams played out 0-0 after 90 minutes, and the game went to extra-time again. In the end, it was Reds captain Virgil van Dijk who scored the winner two minutes before extra-time, and the two sides finally did not draw a clean sheet in a third consecutive cup final, with the Reds winning the Carabao Cup for the tenth time and Chelsea falling to the domestic cup final six times in a row, England's all-time first.
Liverpool took the lead in the first half, with the Reds quickly controlling the tempo and at one point keeping Chelsea firmly at the back. However, the Reds were forced to make substitutions less than half an hour after kick-off: Hrafenberg was tackled by Caicedo after 27 minutes and was stretchered off the pitch. In slow motion, Caicedo kicked Hrafenberg's ankle and Klopp had to pull the Dutch midfielder off with Gomez.
It was after this change that Chelsea gradually regained their form. Raheem Sterling soon scored a goal from Jacquesson's cross from the right, but Jacquesson was ruled offside, and VAR struggled to re-mark the line, and finally the referee determined that the Senegalese striker's knee was slightly in an offside position when he started, and the goal was still ruled invalid. And while the Blues didn't take the lead, the BBC's chief football reporter on the scene, McNaughty, asserted that the game would no longer be one-sided: "Even if it doesn't count, it's enough to encourage the whole Chelsea team. After a hard-fought and passive start, they were finally starting to gain a foothold in the game, with Palmer having a sure chance saved in front of goal. Either way, such a counterattack is enough to make Liverpool jealous, and the dominant on-field advantage that the Reds have achieved since the opening game will be broken! ”
Former England captain Alan Shearer admits he had predicted that the final would be a little dull, but he was somewhat surprised by the performance of both sides in the first half: "The players on the pitch now think that their side should have taken the lead, and as a bystander, I thought it might not be an open and full of chances, but by the end of the first half, you would only be surprised by one thing – such an intense and open game. Actually entered the halftime stage 0-0! ”
England were widely regarded as a turning point in the game, with former Sheffield United boss Hercin Bothom pointing out that it was far from a simple substitution for Liverpool: "I think the departure of Hrafenberg changed the overall situation of the game and it took Liverpool a full 10 to 15 minutes to digest and adjust to the adjustments caused by the injury. It wasn't just a single substitution, but a ripple effect that saw Liverpool make three changes to their original formation, which of course took time to re-adapt, and Chelsea used that time to some extent to re-eligate. ”
As for Caicedo's pedaling, although there are voices that it is fully worthy of a red card. Redknapp Jr., who works as a commentator for Sky TV, said it was a foul that the referee should have shown a yellow card: "It was certainly not a pleasant scene, but Caicedo's eyes were always following the trajectory of the ball, so even when he stepped on Hrafenberg's ankle, he didn't look at the area where he fouled, but turned his head early to look at the ball that had been kicked away. A yellow card would have been a reasonable decision in such a situation, but you can certainly understand why Jurgen Klopp was so angry because the referee didn't say anything at the time. ”
In the 60th minute of the second half, Van Dijk finally took advantage of a set-piece opportunity in front of the goal to score with a header. However, VAR also intervened in the review, and it was finally determined that Endo had interfered with Colville in an offside position, and the latter was supposed to keep an eye on Dick, and the goal was ultimately disallowed. However, the decision was not agreed by England, and Reds legend Carragher immediately complained that the change was "too harsh", while Shearer also disagreed: "It's hard for me to agree with this decision because I don't think Colwill is trying to target Dick, which is a bit far-fetched. ”
And as the game entered the final 20 minutes, Chelsea were back in the driver's seat. Disasi and Conor Gallagher missed goal-scoring opportunities in front of goal. In stoppage time, the Blues even had a 'lightning trifecta' in the Liverpool penalty area, with Nkunku, Gusto and Conor Gallagher taking turns to shoot, and the three shots in quick succession that lasted less than 10 seconds were all saved by the Liverpool defenders. This time, there was even a collective wail from the commentators in the Sky studio, and Shearer exclaimed in the BBC commentary: "Oh God! Chelsea, how many more opportunities do you need? ”
After squandering countless chances in front of goal, Chelsea were finally punished in the 118th minute when Virgil van Dijk scored the only goal of the game from another corner to give Liverpool the winnerEngland**, on the other hand, preferred to give praise to Reds manager Jurgen Klopp after the game: "These young players of Liverpool deserve this victory, and what is even more commendable is Klopp who gave these young people trust and the opportunity to play, this League Cup trophy may be just the beginning of this group of Liverpool youngsters to return to the manager." ”