Specially introduced Kepa big schlemiel in penalty series EFL Cup final


Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 8:28 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 22:30

Liverpool won the EFL Cup after penalties in a thrilling final against Chelsea on Sunday evening. The Reds and the Blues made a fantastic spectacle of it, despite not a single valid goal on the scoreboard in 120 minutes: 0-0. Curious was the large number of hits rejected due to offside: four in total. At Chelsea, star Édouard Mendy was sidelined in the final minute, to enter the penalty series with Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spanish goalie had to kick himself at an 11-10 score (no one missed) and shot hopelessly over.

Hakim Ziyech had to miss the final due to an injury, sustained in the Champions League against Lille OSC midweek. Despite the lack of goals, the match was full of spectacle from the start. In the fifth minute Kai Havertz encountered Caoimhín Kelleher after a perfect low ball from César Azpilicueta, who was the substitute in the goal for Alisson Becker at Liverpool. Édouard Mendy, the man under the bar at Chelsea, was also able to distinguish himself after half an hour, in his case with a fabulous double reflex. First Mendy saved Naby Keita’s long shot, then quickly scrambled up and tapped Sadio Mané’s rebound. That Mendy could still come, Mané could certainly count on.

Chelsea were stronger for the remainder of the first half and Havertz sent Mason Mount one-on-one with Kelleher. However, the attacking midfielder fired wide. Both teams were evenly matched after the break. Mount got another mega opportunity in the 49th minute and shot the post to his own dismay. On the other side Mendy made a big mistake after an hour with a wrong pass. Mohamed Salah charged at Mendy and tipped the ball over the goalie, but the effort lacked speed and was cleared on the goal line by the assisting Chelsea defence.

Liverpool thought they took the lead in the 67th minute from a free kick by Trent Alexander-Arnold, which was headed to the far post by Mané and was fed in by Joël Matip. In the replay, however, Virgil van Dijk turned out to have been offside with one foot: no goal. Shortly afterwards, a good header from Mount was also disallowed, in this case due to the offside of assister Timo Werner. Van Dijk himself came close with a dangerous header from a corner. Mendy dove the ball well out of the corner and kept Chelsea going. Deep into stoppage time, Kelleher did the same for Liverpool by reacting with an outstretched foot to a close-range bet from Romelu Lukaku: 0-0 after ninety minutes.

In the extra time that followed Chelsea came very close again. Werner fired close to the far intersection, while Lukaku fired the ball against the ropes after cutting Ibrahima Konaté, but again offside threw a spanner in the works. As if the devil was playing with it, Chelsea made another offside goal in the second half of extra time: this time a good shot by Havertz was canceled. Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel surprisingly decided in the last minute to take out star Mendy and send Kepa towards the penalty series. All first 21 penalty kicks were used flawlessly. Van Dijk, for example, hit the intersection beautifully, while Fabinho and Jorginho scored icy calm through a panenka. Kepa was the last remaining man on the field who had not yet taken a penalty and had to stand behind the ball. The Chelsea keeper hopelessly overshot and gave Liverpool the cup win.