Liverpool beat Chelsea 11-10 in the 2021/22 EFL Cup Final penalty shootout, with substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missing the crucial spot-kick. The match had ended 0-0 after extra time.
Just as he had done in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup Final, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel sent on substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga as a penalty shootout loomed over the EFL Cup Final against Liverpool. The hero that day seven months earlier, the Spaniard endured a torrid night as he failed to save any of Liverpool’s eleven spot-kicks before blasting his own over the bar to hand the cup to the Reds.
Both teams had plenty of chances to win the game in regular time, starting with Christian Pulisic in sixth minute, as he gained a yard over his marker before firing a shot straight at Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Thirty minutes in, and Edouard Mendy made a sensational stop from point-blank range to prevent compatriot Sadio Mane from opening the scoring at the other end – the save Mendy’s second in quick succession after he thwarted Naby Keita’s attempt from distance.
Mason Mount, back in the Chelsea line-up, wasted two glorious opportunities to put the Blues in front, either side of the break. Both times from close range, the Englishman tried to place the ball to Kelleher’s left, but, both times, he missed the target.
Chelsea benefitted from the first of three disallowed goals after the break and before the shootout. On this occasion, in the 69th minute, Virgil van Dijk was adjudged to have impeded play from an offside position while his centre-back partner Joel Matip bundled the ball into the net. Into extra-time, and Romelu Lukaku thought he had given the Blues the lead but for VAR to chalk his strike off for a marginal offside. Technology wasn’t required when, in the 110th minute, Kai Havertz squeezed the ball in from a tight angle – the official’s raised flag doing the job on that occasion.
And so, penalties ensued, where ten of the eleven players from both teams found the net without any difficulties. The match, then, was to be decided by the respective goalkeepers, and as Kelleher scored his, Kepa – brought on in the 120th minute with the shootout in mind – blasted his over the bar. Liverpool celebrated winning the cup for the ninth time in their history, taking them past Manchester City. The Reds also tied rivals Manchester United for most competitive honors won by an English club – the 2021/22 EFL Cup, their 66th.
