EFL Cup 2022 Final: Liverpool win Carabao Cup after beating Chelsea in penalty shootout

Liverpool held their nerve to win an astonishing penalty shoot-out 11-10 and beat Chelsea in the English League Cup final on Sunday (February 27) after an absorbing contest ended 0-0 after extra time at a Wembley Stadium full of support for Ukraine.

Both sides could claim to have been deserving winners in a classic free-flowing encounter full of goalscoring chances, remarkable saves and disallowed goals.

Congratulations, @LFC! #EFL | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/WEMBJvdxGy

— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) February 27, 2022

Even in the penalty shoot-out, the two sides were inseparable with 21 successful kicks ratcheting up the tension.

It came down to a test between two goalkeepers with Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher belting his effort past Kepa Arrizabalaga who had replaced Edouard Mendy for the shoot-out.

Spaniard Arrizabalaga then blazed his effort over the bar into the massed ranks of Liverpool supporters who celebrated the club's first domestic Cup silverware for a decade.

What a shootout! Scenes in that @LFC end!#EFL | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/sr18lJF4VO

— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) February 27, 2022

While Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp had won the Premier League and Champions League since arriving at Anfield, it was a rare cup success for the German who had won only two of his previous eight finals with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.

For Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel it meant his hopes of a fourth trophy in just over a year at Stamford Bridge fell just short. He won the Champions League last season and the European SuperCup and FIFA Club World Cup this season.