Liverpool tactical upper hand was in display Thursday as a brace from Diogo Jota pushed the Reds to a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the second leg, punching a ticket to the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.
Jota opened the scoring in the 19th minute, following up in the second half with another goal (77′) to put the match out of reach.
“We scored two wonderful goals, wow,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. “Diogo Jota on fire!”
Despite playing only two games at the Emirates Stadium for Liverpool, Jota is already the club’s leading scorer at the stadium with four goals. He now has 6 goals in 5 games for Liverpool against Arsenal.
“Quality is why we signed him because of the way he played at Wolves,” Klopp added, speaking on Jota. “The defending he had to do, the runs he had to make but was still able to produce some exciting stuff. He didn’t only just step up tonight. Yes he scored two goals but he is incredibly important for us. The mix of his skillset is incredibly exciting.”
While Jota has now scored 13 goals across all competitions this season, teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold has chipped in with more than his share of production.
Alexander-Arnold has been directly involved in 13 goals in his last 14 games for Liverpool: 11 assists, 2 goals. Four of those assists have come against Arsenal. He has 17 assists overall so far this season.
“It’s good for us to get there. It’s what we expect,” Alexander-Arnold said. “We’ve put in good performances in this run with a lot of youngsters, a mixed squad, but we’ve been able to win every game except the first leg. We performed very well tonight and it’s what we deserved. We never gave them too many chances, they had a free kick early doors to be fair, but other than that, we kept them at bay. Diogo’s first goal was outstanding, his second was outstanding again, he’s a world-class player in the best form he’s found at the club. Hopefully more goals for him and we’ll be able to get a win in the final.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was disappointed, but understanding of the final result.
“It is disappointing because obviously when you have the final one game away you have that excitement,” Arteta said. “We did everything we could to put out a competitive team. They [Liverpool] have the quality to finish the game off. You need to have a squad of 22, 23 top outfield players and to do that, it takes time.”
Liverpool are now in a record 13th League Cup final. The final against Chelsea at Wembley is set for 27 February. It is their seventh cup final in six years under Klopp.
“What the boys put out tonight was really special,” Klopp wrapped up.
