Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp secured the first trophy of his final season at Liverpool after his injury-depleted team defeated Chelsea 1-0 after extra time to win the Carabao Cup.
Defender Virgil Van Dijk scored the winner deep into extra time to secure Liverpool’s 10th Carabao Cup trophy, the second under Klopp’s reign as manager and potentially the first of multiple titles still available to the Reds in his final season.
The German manager revealed in January that he will leave the club at the end of this season, and he has the opportunity to leave on a high with the Reds still in contention for three more trophies, including the Premier League title, FA Cup, and the UEFA Europa League.
However, winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium on Sunday was made difficult for the Reds with injury problems going into the game, and it was further compounded when they had 21-year-old midfielder Ryan Gravenberch substituted due to injury in the first half.
Chelsea thought they had the opener in the first half when Raheem Sterling poked home from a lovely pass by Nicolas Jackson, but the VAR chalked off the goal for offside.
After going the whole 90 minutes without a goal, Liverpool was forced to bank on a couple of teenagers and Kelleher’s excellence in goal to see off the game into extra time.
Caoimhin Kelleher made nine saves in total in the Liverpool goal to deny Chelsea before Van Dijk scored the winner. Klopp was delighted with his players in the post-match conference.
“What happened here was absolutely insane; these things are not possible. The team, a squad, an academy full of character. I am so proud I could be part of that tonight. The craziest thing is we deserved it. We had lucky moments; they had lucky moments. The boys showed up; it was really cool. I am sure we brought on all the kids! We needed fresh legs; they were fresh but very young, but they did the job.” Jurgen Klopp said.
Liverpool will return to Cup action midweek against Southampton and travel to Nottingham Forest next weekend before their R16 Europa League clash against Sparta Prague.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
