Carabao Cup
Quadruple still possible for Liverpool as Chelsea becomes first team to lose three consecutive FA Cup finals
Juergen Klopp’s relentless Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in a fluctuating English FA Cup final on Saturday to stay on course for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.
An absorbing Wembley showpiece had somehow ended 0-0 after extra time despite a raft of chances and near misses for both sides with fine performances from the two goalkeepers.
Substitute Kostas Tsimikas slotted the winning penalty after Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s had hit the post and Alisson had saved Mason Mount’s effort.
Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy had kept his side alive when he saved Senegal team mate Sadio Mane’s penalty but it proved to no avail as Liverpool lifted the trophy for the first time since 2006.
It was a carbon copy of the League Cup final in February, which Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties after that game also finished goalless.
“I’m really proud of my boys,” Liverpool manager Klopp said. “We are mentality monsters but there were mentality monsters in Chelsea colours as well — it was one penalty.
“Chelsea played outstanding but in the end there must be one winner and that was us today.”
Saturday’s win means Liverpool have won 50% of their target for the season.
They are three points behind Manchester City in the Premier League race with two games to go and meet Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28.
“This is something that will give us even more confidence to keep on going in the Premier League and also for the Champions League final,” Alisson, who made a crucial save from Marcos Alonso in the first half, said.
For Chelsea it meant an unwelcome record of becoming the first side to lose three FA Cup finals in a row, after losing to Arsenal in 2020 and Leicester City last year.
Liverpool had the best of a pulsating first half with Luis Diaz close several times, before Chelsea came back in the second, with Alonso rattling the crossbar.
Klopp’s Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession and finished the 90 minutes on top, Diaz and Andrew Robertson both hitting the post in the final 10 minutes and the indefatigable Diaz whistling a shot just wide in the 90th.
Tired legs on a warm day contributed to a rather anticlimactic extra time with both sides appearing to have decided to take their chances in a shootout.
Sadly for Chelsea, as in February, it was a case of so near yet so far although manager Thomas Tuchel had no regrets.
“Like in the last final, the League Cup, no regrets. I told the team I was proud,” he told reporters. “We played 240 minutes in two finals against maybe the most dangerous attacking team in the world and it’s 0-0.”
“I was sure during the match the momentum was on our side but unfortunately I was not right.”
The only blot on another memorable day for Liverpool was striker Mohamed Salah being withdrawn in the first half with an injury.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was handed the Cup by Prince William to roars from the Liverpool fans while the Chelsea end had largely emptied.
“It’s a big moment for us, we haven’t been in this final for some time so to win it was special,” Henderson said.
The win was Liverpool’s eighth in the 150-year history of the FA Cup, drawing them level with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal have won the most with 14.
-Reuters
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants defender Marc Guehi to be allowed to play in their League Cup final against Arsenal, saying the club will ask organisers to reconsider eligibility rules.
City booked their place at Wembley with a 3-1 home win over Newcastle United in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg, completing a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Competition rules make Guehi ineligible for the final because he featured earlier in the tournament for Crystal Palace, and joined City after the first leg of the semi-final.
“Why should he (Guehi) not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player,” Guardiola told reporters.
“You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play, for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it.
“I told the club we must ask – hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc can play the final.”
The League Cup final between City and Arsenal is scheduled for March 22.
-Reuters
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Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said reaching Wembley for the first time since 2020 – thanks to a 4-2 aggregate League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea – would give his players a boost for a hectic season run-in.
“It’s the best vitamins we can put in our bodies because we are playing every three days,” Arteta told reporters after Arsenal beat their London rivals 1-0 on Tuesday to seal their place in the final of England’s second domestic cup competition.
The Spaniard said the prospect of a return to Wembley for the first time since he guided his team to victory in the FA Cup final – also against Chelsea – six years ago was magical, before adding: “Now we are going to have to go and win it.”
Arsenal had failed to make it through their previous four major cup semi-finals – two in the League Cup and another two in Europe – before overcoming Chelsea on Tuesday.
With the visitors desperately seeking the goal they needed to level the tie on aggregate, former Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz ran clear to score in the final moments of the semi-final second leg
The German has missed much of this season through injury and Arteta hailed his return to form.
“Today was a special moment for him and I hope that he fully enjoys it,” he said.
The Premier League leaders – who are also competing in the FA Cup and the Champions League – will face either Manchester City or Newcastle United who play their semi-final second leg on Wednesday with City 2-0 ahead from the first leg.
Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior said his players’ disciplined performance showed how much the team had developed since the chaotic 3-2 home loss to Arsenal in last month’s first leg, which was only his second match in charge after replacing Enzo Maresca.
“Ultimately their goal comes when we’re throwing the kitchen sink at the game. That’s going to happen,” Rosenior said. “We can’t let this setback affect our future. There were aspects of our game that I am very happy with.”
He said winger Pedro Neto and club captain Reece James had not made the squad on Tuesday after picking up “small knocks” and he praised 18-year-old Brazil winger Estevao who made a 48-hour round trip to Brazil for compassionate reasons but was back in London to come off the bench for Chelsea in the second half.
-Reuters
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Omar Marmoush scored twice as Manchester City set up a League Cup final date with Arsenal after a comprehensive 3-1 second-leg victory over visiting Newcastle United secured a 5-1 aggregate win in their semi-final on Wednesday.
The home side were ruthless in the first half as Tijjani Reijnders also got on the scoresheet and now face Arsenal at Wembley on March 22 in a battle between City manager Pep Guardiola and his protege Mikel Arteta.
“We showed a very good mentality,” Marmoush told Sky Sports. “We were together as a team, from the first minute, we were very focused on the job. We showed our mentality and passion, and are very happy to reach the final.
“We are here to win trophies. We give our best every day to reach these finals and win silverware. Hopefully, we can do it for all the new players and also the players that were here.”
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, the last thing Newcastle needed was to concede early at the Etihad Stadium, but Marmoush’s shot deflected off defender Dan Burn and into the net inside six minutes.
The Egypt international added a second on the night with a close-range header from Antoine Semenyo’s cross. Marmoush has now scored 12 goals for City and five have come against Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
A rampant City scored a third before halftime and Semenyo was involved again as he created the chance for Reijnders to finish.
Newcastle pulled a goal back just past the hour mark when substitute Anthony Elanga showed quick feet to work a shooting chance and curled his effort past James Trafford in the home goal.
Elanga missed two superb chances to reduce the deficit further, one scarcely believable from right in front of the goal, while Erling Haaland brushed the post at the other end.
City won four League Cup titles in a row between 2018 and 2021 and have eight in all; only Liverpool (10) have won it more.
Arsenal have not lifted the trophy in 33 years and have two previous wins.
-Reuters
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