Liverpool narrowly reached the next round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening by beating third divisionist Derby County on penalties. After regular time, the glasses position was still on the scoreboard, so the Reds depended on penalty kicks. During the penalty series, Caoimhín Kelleher became the big hero by saving three penalty kicks.
Jürgen Klopp did not think it necessary on Wednesday evening to let his trusted starting eleven lose their strength. Liverpool will play another home game in the Premier League against Southampton next Saturday. Star players such as Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah were given time off, while Roberto Firmino and Darwin Núñez had to show up to fill the bench. The most famous starters on the side of the youthful Liverpool were Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. At Derby County, central defender Jake Rooney, nephew of the legendary Wayne Rooney, was on the bench.
Keeper Joe Wildsmith turned out to be the absolute hero at third divisionist Derby during the regular ninety minutes. The 26-year-old Englishman made one save after another, leaving the number seven of the League One in the game. After 66 minutes, Klopp brought in coarser guns with Firmino, Núñez and Harvey Elliott, but that was also to no avail. the Reds dependent on a penalty shootout.
The second penalty of the series, taken by Liverpool, was immediately wrong: 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic saw Wildsmith parry his penalty. Fortunately for the youngster, Conor Hourihane was also not accurate from eleven meters, so Oxlade-Chamberlain put the teams back on the same level. Craig Forsyth then missed on behalf of Derby, after which Firmino shot the ball sky high. Louie Sibley then gave Derby the lead, but Núñez narrowly equalized: 2-2.
Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher eventually became the big hero by taking his third penalty on a bet by Lewis Dobbin, after which Elliott took the win for Liverpool. During the penalty shootout in the final of the League Cup last season, Kelleher was also the big hero the Reds. The 23-year-old Irishman then even made the winning penalty (11-10) that defeated Chelsea and Liverpool won the cup.