Liverpool became the League Cup champion after a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the final match that lasted 120 minutes of intense competition.
Central defender Virgil van Dijk played the hero with the only goal of the match to bring the championship back to The Kop.
In the 118th minute, from Tsimikas’s corner kick, Van Dijk headed the ball diagonally to beat Petrovic.
Before the Dutch star’s goal, the Carabao Cup final took place excitingly with many dangerous attack situations created by players from both sides towards each other’s goal.
In the first half, Sterling even put the ball into Liverpool’s net, but the goal was not counted because Jackson was offside when crossing the ball before crossing.
Liverpool responded with dangerous attacks, but could not make a difference on the electronic board.
Cody Gakpo left Blues goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic “helpless” with a dangerous header in the 40th minute, but unfortunately the ball hit the post and went out.
Not stopping there, Chelsea’s defense had to work hard to block shots from Gakpo and Bradley at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the match continued to be exciting with many “tit for tat” situations but no goals were scored during the official match time.
Van Dijk also once put the ball into Chelsea’s net, but VAR stepped in and determined that a Liverpool player was in an offside position during this phase.
Chelsea also created countless dangerous opportunities but could not make goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher’s net shake, including Gallagher’s shot that hit the post.
Drawing 0-0, the two teams continued to create an exciting match in extra time, but it was not until the final minutes that the balance was reached. In the 118th minute, Van Dijk scored a header to put Liverpool ahead 1-0.
Suddenly having to concede a goal, Chelsea rose strongly, but the remaining 3 minutes were not enough for Mauricio Pochettino’s students to create a surprise, thereby accepting a final defeat of 0-1 after 12 minutes. stress.
With this victory, Coach Juergen Klopp’s team won their first title this season.
This is also the 10th English League Cup title in The Kop’s history, 2 titles ahead of the team ranked right behind, Manchester City.
In addition to the Carabao Cup, Liverpool also aim for two other titles in their final season under Jurgen Klopp: the Premier League and the Europa League.
Liverpool is currently leading the Premier League rankings, while in the Europa League they have also reached the 1/8 round.
On the other side of the battle line, losing in this year’s League Cup final was a pity for Chelsea as they proved that they were not inferior to the champions. With this defeat, the Blues still only have 5 championships in the English League Cup arena.
Sharing after the match ended, hero of the final Virgil van Dijk said this victory meant a lot to the team.
“This result means so much, we had a lot of young players in extra time and I was very proud to see them fight. This was a very tense match for both sides so I was relieved when it ended, this was my first title as captain,” Virgil van Dijk shared.
The Dutch midfielder also said that he and his teammates want to win more titles because of “captain” Juergen Kloop.
“I won’t say anything too soon, but hopefully we can win more titles. The talk about the head coach leaving is all from outside the club, but within the team we only talk about continuing to aim for championships.”
For his part, Coach Juergen Klopp said that Liverpool’s victory was completely deserved after what the players showed in this match.
