Liverpool pulled off a sensational Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea at Wembley, thanks to a last-gasp header from Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk had earlier seen a header controversially ruled out for offside, but he made no mistake in the 118th minute when he nodded in from Kostas Tsimikas’ corner.
Liverpool’s 10th success in the tournament was even more remarkable as they were missing several key players, including their star forwards Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, and also lost Ryan Gravenberch to a nasty injury after Moises Caicedo’s tackle.
It means Jurgen Klopp’s side have completed the first leg of a possible quadruple in the manager’s final season, but it was a cruel blow to Chelsea and boss Mauricio Pochettino. Liverpool owed a lot to goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher who put on another masterclass at Wembley after saving them from defeat in the 2022 EFL Cup final shootout against Chelsea.
In a tense first half, he made a superb save from Cole Palmer while Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo hit the post with a header. Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling also had a goal disallowed for offside against Nicolas Jackson.
The game opened up after the break, and Van Dijk thought he had broken the deadlock on the hour mark only for the goal to be chalked off for offside against Wataru Endo after a long VAR check, as the Japan midfielder obstructed Chelsea defender Levi Colwill.
Conor Gallagher was twice denied by the woodwork and the heroic Kelleher as he seemed set to score, Liverpool’s keeper rushing out to smother while Chelsea somehow missed in a frantic scramble in the dying minutes of normal time.
Kelleher’s Chelsea rival Djordje Petrovic was also busy in extra time, tipping over a header from Liverpool’s young sub Jayden Danns while Harvey Elliott fired into the side-netting from a good spot, also seeing a header miraculously saved by the keeper.
And then came that final twist to give Liverpool another Wembley triumph over Chelsea and leave Pochettino still chasing his first silverware in England.
They have now lost six Wembley finals in a row, including three against Liverpool, and squandered a lot of chances here.
