Liverpool go at the expense of Arsenal to the final of the EFL Cup

Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 10:36 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 22:41

Liverpool qualified for the EFL Cup final at the expense of Arsenal on Thursday evening. The team of trainer Jürgen Klopp won 0-2 in London, after last week’s 0-0 draw in front of their own audience. Arsenal ended the game with ten men, because Thomas Partey received two yellow cards. The midfielder came on in minute 74 and was thrown on the receipt in both minute 87 and 90. In the final, Liverpool will face Chelsea, which was too strong for Tottenham Hotspur. The match will take place at Wembley on Sunday 27 February.

Arsenal took office with three line-up changes from the first meeting. Granit Xhaka was suspended after his red card last week and was replaced by Martin Ödegaard. Eddie Nketiah made way for Emile Smith Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu took the position of the injured Cédric Soares. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp also made three changes. Under the bar, Caoimhin Kelleher was surprisingly preferred over Alisson Becker, while Curtis Jones and Kaide Gordon played in place of James Milner and Takumi Minamino.

In the first ten minutes, Arsenal maintained a fast pace in their pursuit of an early opening goal. Alexandre Lacazette was very threatening from a free kick just outside the penalty area, but Kelleher tapped the ball against the crossbar. On the other side, a goal by Joël Matip was disallowed for offside after preparatory work by Andy Robertson and Fabinho, before Liverpool scored a valid goal. Diogo Jota steamed up from the left wing, showing Tomiyasu his heels and frolicking towards the penalty area. He failed to hit the ball convincingly from the edge of the box, but goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was misplaced: 0-1.

After the goal, Arsenal was upset. The Gunners did not get into the good rhythm of the opening phase and could not cause Liverpool any more problems in the remainder of the first half. Shortly after the break, Lacazette shot over under pressure from Virgil van Dijk, after which Gordon missed a great opportunity on behalf of Liverpool: Jota was too quick for Ben White on the left wing and gave a low cross to Gordon, who got too little control over his shot . Opportunities kept appearing on both sides. After a corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté headed the post after an hour of play; Smith Rowe didn’t have his sights set when he got a shooting opportunity.

Eleven minutes before the end, Liverpool took the match. Gabriel Martinelli lost the ball in midfield, after which Alexander-Arnold sent a long ball towards Jota from the halfway line. He promptly put the striker in front of the goal; Jota deftly tipped the ball over Ramsale. At first, the linesman gestured that there was offside, but after analyzing the video images, video referee Darren England turned the goal well. With that, the last bit of hope at Arsenal disappeared, which saw the last chance for a medal of honor this season go up in smoke. Partey’s red card cast an even greater shadow over the match; he made his comeback after playing in the African Cup with Ghana two days ago, but received yellow cards for tackles on Nico Williams and Fabinho.