Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk, headed a 118th-minute winner to seal the Carabao Cup for the club with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp’s swansong season has guaranteed at least one piece of silverware for the club, but it took a long time to get there in a topsy-turvy encounter that somehow stayed goalless for nearly the duration at Wembley.
There were posts hit at each end, VAR foils for each team and a string of chances denied. But with penalties looming it was Van Dijk who settled it, rising highest to head in from a corner.
It is the 10th time Liverpool have won Carabao Cup, increasing their position as the most successful team in the history of the competition ahead of Manchester City (eight).
For Chelsea, there will only be regret, and Mauricio Pochettino’s wait for a first trophy in England continues.
Speaking after the game, Klopp said: “What happened here this afternoon is absolutely insane. These things are not possible.
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“Besides, we had a team, a squad with an academy full of character. It’s unbelievable what happened here. I’m so proud that I could be part of it.
“The crazy stuff is, we deserved it. We had lucky moments, they had lucky moments. That’s the game, it was a tough game – it was almost 150 minutes with all the extra-times. The boys showed up, it was so good.
“I’m pretty sure when we were bringing on all the kids that people were thinking: ‘Okay that’s it now, they’ve given up with a game on Wednesday’.
“It was really not the case, we thought we needed fresh legs. They were fresh legs, but very young. They did the job. Dannsy headed the ball on the crossbar, the other one was scrappy. James, Bobby, what they did – unbelievable.”
On his part, Pochettino told Sky Sports: “If you compare the age of the two groups, it’s similar. I have a good relationship with Gary, I can respect his opinion. We made a few changes for extra time, but we didn’t keep the energy. For sure I feel proud. They made a big effort.
“We have a young team, and nothing to compare with Liverpool because they finished with young players on the pitch. It’s not fair to talk in this way, if he said that. We’re going to keep being strong and believing in this project.
“It’s always difficult when you lose a final because you have the chances. It’s one game.
“We lost in the last minute of the game. So painful. Now we have to take the positive things, keep going, push and use this type of game to learn and do better and only be positive.”
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