By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Towering Liverpool Captain, Virgil van Dijk’s header late in the extra time gave an under-strength team a remarkable Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea at Wembley on the evening of Sunday, 25 February, 2024.
Before his last minute header that gave his team victory, Dijk had seen a header controversially ruled out for offside on the hour but there was no reprieve for Chelsea when he headed into the empty net in the 118th minute from a corner cross from Kostas Tsimikas
Liverpool’s 10th triumph in the competition was achieved without the availability of star names such as the club most priced asset, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, also losing Ryan Gravenberch when he was taken off on a stretcher after Moises Caicedo’s first-half challenge.
It means Jurgen Klopp’s tutored side have achieved the first part of a potential quadruple in the manager’s last dance of as he will be quitting the club at the end of the season.
The victory of Liverpool, regarded as the most successful club in British history, was a bitter blow to Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The London based club has now lost six successive Wembley finals, including three against Liverpool, and wasted a host of opportunities here.
Liverpool were indebted to goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher who produced another outstanding Wembley performance after being the hero when Chelsea were beaten on penalties in the 2022 EFL Cup final.
In a tight first half, he blocked brilliantly from Cole Palmer while Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo saw a header bounce back off the post. Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling also saw a close-range effort ruled out for offside against Nicolas Jackson.
As the chances came in quick succession after the break, Van Dijk thought he had headed Liverpool in front on the hour only for the goal to be contentiously ruled out for offside against Wataru Endo following a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervention as the Japan midfielder blocked off Chelsea defender Levi Colwill.
Conor Gallagher was also denied by the woodwork, then once more by the defiant Kelleher as he looked poised to make the breakthrough, Liverpool’s keeper darting off his line to save while Chelsea somehow failed to score in a desperate goalmouth scramble in the closing moments of normal time.
Kelleher’s Chelsea counterpart Djordje Petrovic was called into action in extra time, turning over a header from Liverpool’s teenage substitute Jayden Danns while Harvey Elliott shot into the side-netting from a good position, also seeing a header kept out by the keeper.
And then came that final twist to give Liverpool another Wembley victory over Chelsea and leave Pochettino still seeking his first trophy in England.
Chelsea have recent experience of losing to Liverpool at Wembley, beaten in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup finals by the Reds in 2022, but the circumstances of this defeat will hurt deeply.
As well as being their sixth successive Wembley final loss, three in the FA Cup and three in the EFL Cup, Chelsea will know they had the chance to provide a different end to what was ultimately a familiar story.
Pochettino’s side had a huge opportunity to exact a measure of revenge for those defeats against a Liverpool team reduced by injuries, missing so many influential players, and after coming into better form themselves in recent weeks.
And yet it was heartbreak once more for Chelsea, this time with Pochettino at the helm, the Argentine still without a success in England, and suffering defeat at the hands of Klopp once more after losing the 2020 Champions League final when he was manager at Tottenham.
Chelsea will know this was a major opportunity that they let escape their grasp, not able to find the killer touch in front of goal as well as being strangely passive and second best in extra time.
Victory here would not only have ensured European football for Chelsea, it would also have provided a measure of calm after recent turbulent seasons – but once again Wembley only brought disappointment.
Source: BBC Football
