Liverpool beat Chelsea by 1-0 in the Carabao Cup final

The dramatic goal at the end of the match in the 120-minute duel led Liverpool to win the 2023/2024 Carabao Cup on Sunday (25th Feb 2024) at Wembley Stadium after beating Chelsea by 1-0. The match was intense, both teams gave their best level of play however Klopp's men came out victorious.

The match was marked by disallowed goals, both from Chelsea and Liverpool. The Reds threatened more often, but Chelsea was always dangerous in counter-attacking schemes. The match was locked at 0-0 in 90 minutes of normal time, further going to extra time, Virgil van Dijk emerged as Liverpool's architect by scoring a single goal in the 118th minute and led Liverpool to win their first trophy in the 2023/2024 season.

The Reds started the match not in their best condition in the first 10 minutes, Liverpool had several opportunities from dead-ball situations. The tempo of the match began to take shape and the match started to heat up after 15 minutes had passed. The Blues tried to build a slow attack from behind as Liverpool threatened through Diaz's shot in the 15th minute. Chelsea made a surprise with a goal in the 32nd minute when Sterling had time to celebrate his goal, but the referee had raised the offside flag for Jackson's movement as confirmed by VAR hence the goal was disallowed. In the 40th minute, Liverpool had their best chance when the game became more open, Robertson's cross was headed by Gakpo, but the ball still hit the post.

Both teams gained momentum in the final 5 minutes, the Reds attacked, but there were no goals. The 0-0 score sent the players to the dressing room, the match resumed and both sides had not found their rhythm. In the 55th minute of the game, The Reds seemed to be trying to dictate the game using short ball flows. In the 61st minute, Liverpool scored a goal, the 32-year-old Dutchman met Robertson's cross and headed the ball in however, VAR intervened. Endo was in an offside position and disrupted play before Van Dijk's goal and the score remained 0-0.

The clock was ticking as 70 minutes had passed and the coaches of both teams appeared to be making several substitutions. The Blues easily lost the ball and The Reds threatened, but their final pass was disappointing. Pochettino's men wasted a golden opportunity in the 76th minute, Gallagher's shot hit the post. In the 86th minute, the 25-year-old Kelleher also made a crucial save to stop Gallagher in a one-on-one situation. The six minutes of added time was not enough to change the scoreboard as the score was still very much on 0-0 and added to extra time. The match continued into extra time, both teams looked exhausted. Liverpool still controlled the attack, but Chelsea also seemed ready to fight back with a counterattack as the 15 minutes passed quickly in the extra half of the game.

Neither Chelsea nor Liverpool threatened in the second 15 minutes, the Blues seemed more careful. Pochettino seemed to be preparing his squad for the penalty shootout but in the 118th minute of the game, Klopp's men finally broke through Chelsea's defense and took the corner kick quickly, Tsimikas' cross was headed by Van Dijk to the bottom right of Petrovic's goal and gave the unassailable 1-0 lead to Liverpool. The remaining time was not enough for Chelsea to fight back with a scoreline of 1-0, Liverpool clinched the Carabao Cup.