Virgil van Dijk’s header deep into extra time gave an under-strength, Liverpool a remarkable 1-0 Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea at Wembley in London last night.
Van Dijk had seen a header contentiously ruled out for offside on the hour, but there was no reprieve for Chelsea when he glanced home another from a Kostas Tsimikas’ corner in the 118th minute.
Liverpool’s 10th triumph in the competition was achieved without a host of injured star names, including forwards Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, and after losing Ryan Gravenberch when he was taken off on a stretcher after Moises Caicedo’s first-half challenge.
It means that Liverpool have achieved the first part of a potential four-trophy haul in Manager, Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season, but it was a bitter blow to Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino.
They have now lost six successive Wembley finals, including three against Liverpool, and wasted a host of opportunities yesterday.
