Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties yet again to secure Carabao Cup progress

Chelsea must have been resigned to their fate as soon as the shootout arrived at Anfield. Four times they had faced Liverpool on penalties previously and four times they had lost. Number five was confirmed when Wesley Fofana’s wild effort sailed high into the Kop and sent Andoni Iraola’s side into a Carabao Cup quarter-final against his old club Bournemouth.

Fofana was not the only culprit as Chelsea’s catalogue of penalty misery against Liverpool gained a new chapter alongside the 2007 Champions League semi-final, the 2019 Uefa Super Cup final and the FA and League Cup finals of 2022. Emmanuel Emegha had the chance to win it for Xabi Alonso’s side in sudden death but was denied superbly by Giorgi Mamardashvili. Liverpool fluffed their lines with victory in sight too, Kostas Tsimikas blazing over and ruining the chance to reprise his match-winning role at Wembley four years ago. Ryan Gravenberch and Valentin Barco also failed to convert.

It fell to Joe Gomez of all people to edge Liverpool ahead with the first shootout penalty of his Anfield career. The long-serving defender, who has never scored for Liverpool, found the top corner of Mike Penders’s goal in convincing style. Fofana could not repeat the trick and finally, after Morgan Rogers and Cody Gakpo had both scored penalties in normal time, the two adversaries were separated. It was another painful result for Alonso, fresh from the home defeat against Tottenham on Saturday, although the Chelsea display was an improvement.

The Chelsea manager said: “For sure it is not the outcome we wanted or expected but once you go to penalties there has to be a sad side. We played with courage, the game was close with not many chances for both sides. It is a small setback because it is probably the least important competition for us. As soon as we leave Anfield our focus will be on a very important game [against Manchester United] on Saturday.”

If, as Alonso claimed, the Carabao Cup is not a priority for Chelsea this season then his decision to again overlook the merits of Estêvão, who was left kicking his heels on the bench all evening, was mystifying. With João Pedro injured and Cole Palmer suspended Chelsea started with Danny Welbeck in attack and the former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson operating in an advanced midfield role. Liverpool contained them relatively comfortably. The Premier League rivals served up a fast-paced, committed cup tie that was lacking goalmouth incident before they exchanged penalties in the space of four minutes. Chelsea were awarded the first when Moisés Caicedo was released inside the Liverpool area by a cleverly disguised pass from Malo Gusto and clipped from behind by Gravenberch. The boos for Henderson intensified as he carried the ball to the spot with a wry smile on his face and handed it to Rogers, who sent Mamardashvili the wrong way with an emphatic penalty kick.

Liverpool soon had a spot-kick of their own when Caicedo and Fofana challenged Virgil van Dijk at a Tsimikas corner and the ball struck the Chelsea defender’s raised hand. Gakpo converted confidently into the bottom corner. The referee, Darren England, called both penalties instantly and correctly, showing officials do not always have to rely on video assistance. The game benefited as a spectacle from the absence of a video assistant referee, although Iraola might well have disagreed had Rogers scored after appearing to control Pedro Neto’s chip with his arm. Mamardashvili’s save meant that controversy was avoided.

Penders, keen to atone for his costly error against Spurs, took centre stage for Chelsea when saving a flying header from Ronald Araújo at close range. The Liverpool defender had been supplied by a fine cross from Gomez and, with two defenders pushed forwards, Rogers almost punished them on the counterattack. Gomez, however, worked tirelessly to chase back and block the forward’s eventual shot. Penders also saved impressively from Bradley Barcola when the France international cut inside from the right and his low shot was deflected towards the bottom corner.