League Cup,
Round of 16
Liverpool
LIV
Chelsea
CHE
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Venue
- Anfield
-
Referee
- Darren England
Cody Gakpo 43′ (Pen)
Morgan Rogers 40′ (Pen)
Both sides scored penalties late in the first half, with Morgan Rogers' spotkick matched by Cody Gakpo in a game which had lacked quality up to that point.
Much-changed XIs from both sides failed to produce enough of a threat after the break as the game was decided by penalties after a draw in 90 minutes.
After the shootout went to sudden death which saw both Ryan Gravenberch and debutant Emmanuel Emegha miss, Wesley Fofana blazed his penalty over to hand the hosts the win and progression into the quarter-finals.
Match Statistics
Rogers and Gakpo goals save dour first half
Liverpool and Chelsea served up a cagey first half at Anfield, with little to separate the sides until the closing stages and neither team registering a shot before the 22nd minute.
Chelsea broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when Ryan Gravenberch brought down Moises Caicedo in the box, allowing Rogers to step up and send Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way from the penalty spot with an emphatic spotkick.
After barely any chances prior to that, Liverpool hit back almost immediately, with Wesley Fofana handling a corner to concede a penalty of his own, and Cody Gakpo calmly converted in the 43rd minute to level the score at 1-1.
Gakpo threatened again with a curling effort that drew a save from Filip Penders, while Chelsea defender Maxence Lacroix limped off with a hamstring injury as the half ended all square.
Rogers wasted a golden opportunity after racing through on goal early in the second half, taking a heavy touch before later forcing a save from Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Chelsea grew into the half, with Pedro Neto testing Mamardashvili from distance before Ronald Araujo saw a powerful header beaten away by Filip Penders from close range.
Rogers spurned another chance on the counter as the game began to open up, before Chelsea substitute Bradley Barcola forced a fine low save from Penders with a fierce drive from 20 yards.
Liverpool introduced Florian Wirtz and Barcola in the 58th minute, but neither side could find a breakthrough as the tie remained locked at 1-1.
Chelsea started to show more of a threat in the final 15 minutes as Marco Pelestra and Rogers went close, before Wirtz squandered a good opportunity of his own from 10 yards out after Gakpo had knocked the ball down. Neither side did enough to find the win, and to penalties we went.
Reds win the shootout
After three perfect penalties apiece, Valentin Barco hit the post with Chelsea's fourth penalty in the shootout, but Kostas Tsimikas blazed his spotkick high over the bar to keep the match alive and eventually head to sudden death after Jordan Henderson scored a pressure penalty on his return to Anfield.
Gravenberch and Emegha both missed their kicks in sudden death, before Joe Gomez buried his to put all the pressure on the Blues once again. Fofana blazed his penalty over to cap off a night to forget to him and hand the hosts the cup victory.
