Virgil van Dijk's late winner against Chelsea seals League Cup glory for Liverpool

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk headed the winner deep into extra time as Jurgen Klopp’s massively depleted side beat Chelsea 1-0 to claim a record-extending 10th Carabao Cup.

The Dutch defender, who controversially had another header ruled out at the same end in the second half after VAR intervention, rose above Mykhailo Mudryk to nod in Kostas Tsimikas’ corner in the 118th minute.

It was no more than the Netherlands international, lifting his first trophy as Liverpool captain, deserved after a monumental performance in defence in a win that seemed against the odds for long periods.

Klopp became the third Liverpool manager to win the trophy more than once as his long goodbye before his departure at the end of the season began with the first of a potential four pieces of silverware.

But for opposite number Mauricio Pochettino his long wait for an English domestic trophy continues.

A Liverpool side already missing 11 first-teamers, including Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szobozslai, who did not pass late fitness tests, lost Ryan Gravenberch inside half-an-hour.

They had six players aged 21 or under on the bench – with Trey Nyoni only 16 – and three of them were on the pitch at the end of regulation time.

By contrast Chelsea’s recent billion-pound spending spree meant Trevoh Chalobah, on the bench, was their only player in the squad remaining from the 2022 final meeting.

The longer the game went on, the more it played into the Blues’ hands with their deeper squad resources and by the end of normal time, Liverpool’s team resembled one more befitting the third round of this competition than the final.

A special moment between @LFC and supporters ❤️#CarabaoCup | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/XiGkAGySRV

Pochetti