Liverpool hold nerve to beat Chelsea on penalties in League Cup final

LONDON : Liverpool held their nerve to win an astonishing penalty shoot-out 11-10 and beat Chelsea in the English League Cup final on Sunday after an absorbing contest ended 0-0 after extra time at Wembley.

Both sides could claim to have been deserving winners in a classic free-flowing encounter full of goalscoring chances, remarkable saves and disallowed goals.

Even in the penalty shoot-out the two sides were inseparable with 21 successful kicks ratcheting up the tension.

It came down to a test between two goalkeepers with Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher belting his effort past Kepa Arrizabalaga who had replaced Edouard Mendy for the shoot-out.

Spaniard Arrizabalaga then blazed his effort over the bar into the massed ranks of Liverpool supporters who celebrated the club's first domestic Cup silverware for a decade.

While Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp had won the Premier League and Champions League since arriving at Anfield, it was a rare cup success for the German who had won only two of his previous eight finals with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.

For Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel it meant his hopes of a fourth trophy in just over a year at Stamford Bridge fell just short. He won the Champions League last season and the European SuperCup and FIFA Club World Cup this season.

Chelsea, bidding to win a sixth League Cup, might well feel aggrieved after having arguably the better chances.

They almost took the lead early on when Cesar Azpilicueta played in a low pass to the unmarked Christian Pulisic whose first-time shot from six metres was kept out by Kelleher, who retained his place ahead of Alisson.

DOUBLE SAVE

Chelsea were sharper in the early exchanges but were fortunate in the 17th minute when Sadio Mane got his angles all