Van Dijk heads Klopp's kids to 'overwhelming' Carabao Cup glory

"It was really overwhelming. Can you create in football stories which definitely nobody will ever forget?" said Klopp.

It must be said Liverpool also owed a huge debt to Caoimhin Kelleher, standing in for Alisson in goal. 

CARABAO CUP FINAL

CHELSEA 0

LIVERPOOL 1 (Van Dijk 118)

COMETH THE HOUR, cometh the man.

It was Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool's leader of men – and boys on this occasion – who struck at the death of an enthralling and historic final to ensure Jurgen Klopp's long goodbye will have some silverware once again.

There were only two minutes of extra time remaining before this chaotic game would go to a penalty shoot-out, as the two domestic cup finals between Chelsea and Liverpool had done two years ago, when Van Dijk decided to lead by example, put his head in where it can hurt, and put the ball in the Chelsea net.

It was a fitting end to a frenetic final, and Van Dijk thoroughly deserved to be the matchwinner for his majestic performance in defence and for having an earlier effort disallowed controversially.

For Klopp, who still has hopes of bowing out of Anfield at the end of the season with an unprecedented quadruple, it was “easily the most special trophy I have ever won.”

It may seem like hyperbole from a man who has won the games' most glittering prizes in Germany, England and Europe, but this was against the odds.

Liverpool started with six key players out injured, sustained another early in the final, and finished with a clutch of teenagers, who ended up coming out on top against a Chelsea team that had been put together with over a billion Euro spent in the past two years.

Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sports TV, described them as “blue billion pound bottle jobs”, which Mauricio Pochettino thought was a cheap shot.

Pointing out that his side is young and inexperienced, he said: "We are a young team too. I feel the same as the players. I'm so disappointed, it's so painful. They need to feel the pain like us.

"We need to improve and compete at this level against a team that is competing for big things in the last eight years. We were so close to winning in 90 minutes, and then the team felt maybe the penalties would be good for us.”

But it was in extra-time that Klopp's kids came good, with teenagers Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark and James McConnell making the difference against more expensive opponents. It paid off when Kostas Tsimikas swung in a corner from the right, Van Dijk put the ball in the net and the celebrations could begin.

Klopp and his players celebrated in front of their fans long after the final whistle and he was still buzzing in his post-match press conference: “I got told outside that there's an English phrase, 'you don't win trophies with kids' – I didn't know that. Yeah!

“It's absolutely exceptional. Sometimes I get asked if I'm proud of this or that and it's really tricky. I wish I could feel pride more often, I just don't do. Tonight there's an overwhelming feeling, 'Oh my God, what's going on here?' I was proud of everybody involved in everything here.

"It was really overwhelming. Can you create in football stories which definitely nobody will ever forget?

"It's so difficult because this happened before, this happened before, they won it then, there. This tonight, if you find the same story with Academy players coming on against a top, top, top side and still winning it, I never heard.”

It must be said Liverpool also owed a huge debt to Caoimhin Kelleher, standing in for Alisson in goal.

The big Corkman made a series of fine saves to deny Chelsea, who were second best in a game that was scrappy but thrilling, full of effort, incident and controversy.

On another day, Moises Caicedo might have been sent off for a challenge that left Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in agony, the Dutchman taken off on a stretcher and seen on crutches at the final whistle, with his injured ankle in a protective boot.

Van Dijk had a headed goal ruled out by VAR on the hour mark for a controversial offside ruling against Wataru Endo, so it was poetic justice that the big Dutchman should score the winner.

But Klopp's squad is beginning to look stretched. The big news before kick-off was that Mohammed Salah and Darwin Nunez did not even make Liverpool's squad, which led to a rather makeshift look about the starting eleven and a very inexperienced bench. As well as those two forwards, Klopp was without Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Ryan Gravenberch was soon added to the long injury list when he was taken off on a stretcher after Caicedo's studs landed on the Dutchman's ankle in the 23rd minute. Remarkably referee Chris Kavanagh did not give a foul, and VAR did not review the incident, which on another day might have resulted in a red card for Caicedo.

Kavanagh had been conservative with his cards and whistle, and it led to a bitty, niggly opening in which neither side managed to play any free-flowing football and chances were few and far between. 

Luis Diaz had a shot and header saved by Djordje Petrovic. Alexis MacAllister was getting the better of his World Cup winning team-mate Enzo Fernandes in midfield, and floated in a cross that Cody Gakpo headed against the base of the far post shortly before half-time.

Chelsea had their chances too. Raheem Sterling put the ball in the net from close range in the 32nd minute but Nicolas Jackson was flagged offside in the build-up and VAR agreed.

It was nothing like as controversial as the moment on the hour mark when Van Dijk thumped a header home only to have it ruled out by VAR three minutes later.

The Liverpool captain was onside when he met Andrew Robertson's free-kick from the left, but when Kavanagh was advised to review the incident, he saw that Wataru Endo has been in an offside position when he blocked one of Chelsea's defenders, and was thus interfering with play.

Chelsea then hit the woodwork, the tricky Cole Palmer playing in a low pass from the right that Conor Gallagher clipped first-time against the far post.

Palmer then set up an even better chance for Gallagher, who was clean in on goal, but Kelleher made a marvellous one-handed save from close range, similar to the way he had denied Palmer earlier in the game.

And deep in stoppage time the keeper stuck out a foot to deny Palmer again.

Klopp sent on his kids as his established players began to tire towards the end of normal time, and Danns almost scored early in extra time with a header that was tipped over by Petrovic.

The keeper did even better with five minutes of extra time remaining to save with his feet when Elliott powered in a header at the back post.

But there was nothing he could do two minutes later when Tsimikas swung in his corner, Van Dijk got ahead of Axel Disasi and headed home for the second time – except this one counted.

For Chelsea, this was their sixth successive cup final defeat at Wembley, the last three of them at the hands of Liverpool.

It means another year without a trophy for Mauricio Pochettino and his men unless they land the FA Cup, while for Klopp's Liverpool this is the first leg of a possible quadruple ticked off.

CHELSEA: Petrovic 7: Gusto 7, Disasi 5, Colwill 6, Chilwell 6 (Chalobah 111); Caicedo 6, Fernandez 6; Sterling 5 (Nkunku 67), Palmer 7, Gallagher 7 (Madueke 95); Jackson 5 (Mudryk 89).

LIVERPOOL: Kelleher 8; Bradley 7 (Clark 72), Konate 7 (Quansah 105), Van Dijk 9, Robertson 7 (Tsimikas 87); Gravenberch 6 (Gomez 27), Endo 8, MacAllister 8 (McConnell 87); Elliot 8, Gakpo 7 (Danns 87), Diaz 8.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh 6/10.