A cup final behind enemy lines – The Carabao Cup Final as it happened

A cup final at Wembley can only be described as the epitome of English football. The whole experience represents this country’s sporting culture; from travelling down with friends and family, making friends with people you’ll never see once the final whistle blows to having a song competition with the opposition’s 45,000 fans.

I had the pleasure of being one of the 85,512 fans who came to watch Chelsea take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final. However, there was a slight mystery over where I would be sat as I was going with a company and would be picking my tickets up at Wembley.

Slightly weary over the fact that a Chelsea shirt may not be acceptable where I could be sitting, I made sure I was accompanied by a neutral black jumper – a decision that would end up being one of the best I had ever made.

I was sat a couple of tiers up and in line with the corner flag. If the position of the seat could be described, I would say it was firmly in the Liverpool end.

My experience of the match was totally unique – having to watch a game where everyone around you celebrates your team’s downfall whilst cursing their successes!

Liverpool fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" before kick off

This year’s 2022 Carabao Cup final may have ended 0-0, however it was a highly entertaining game with end-to-end action and multiple disallowed goals.

Joel Matip thought he had opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 67th minute of the second half however it was ruled as offside by VAR.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick was met at the back post by Sadio Mane, who headed the ball into the ground and across the face of the goal where it was met by Matip.

Joel Matip's disallowed goal

As the Liverpool end erupted, and red smoke bombs were let off, Wembley’s big screen indicated an offside was being checked. The cheers quickly cascaded from the Liverpool end to the Chelsea end as Stuart Attwell disallowed the goal.

The EFL then later explained that it was Van Dijk who was offside in the build-up. He had obstructed Reece James from intercepting the ball, allowing the ball to find Matip.

Virgil van Dijk holding Reece James

In the eighth minute of extra-time, Romelu Lukaku was played through on goal by Trevoh Chalobah, chopped past Ibrahima Konate and skilfully fired it into the bottom right-hand corner. However, after a very quick VAR check the goal was chalked off.

In the aftermath of the game, Chelsea fans have become more and more unhappy with the decision. After looking at the lines that were drawn up by Darren England, at Stockley Park, the only part of the Belgian’s body that seems offside was his arm.

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz also had two goals disallowed for offside, but the decisions were less controversial and seemingly more accurate.

Lukaku's tight offside decision

With a minute left of extra time, and preparing for penalties, Thomas Tuchel substitutes Edouard Mendy for Kepa Arrizabalaga. This is a move that the German manager has made before and to great affect; In the European Super Cup final, the same switch was made, and Chelsea went on to win the game with the Spaniard making two saves.

After 120 minutes of football ended goalless, the referee’s final whistle blew initiating what would end up being one of the longest shootouts in EFL Cup history.

The atmosphere at Wembley for the shootout was incredible. With Liverpool winning the toss, it was always going to be tense. As each Chelsea player stood up to take a penalty, the hostile whistles and chants grew.

Milner took the first penalty of the shoot-out. Kepa’s best attempts at putting him off did not prevail as he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.

As Alonso stepped up for Chelsea, the heckles, boos and whistles cascaded around the full-back. The Spaniard went right, and Kelleher followed. It was a truly heart in mouth moment as the Irish keeper guessed the right way, but the rippling net settled the nerves.

Fabinho’s penalty ability goes under the radar, despite missing only one in his whole career. The Brazilian’s class oozed through as he dinked it down the middle.

There was always going to be pressure on Lukaku for his penalty… the £97.5 million man who hasn’t exactly set the world alight since returning to West London. However, the Belgian continued the strong form he showed during the game as he calmly dispatched his penalty.

Everything about van Dijk seems world class and his penalty was no different. Fired straight into the top left-hand corner there was no chance for Kepa, despite him diving the right way.

Was there really any doubt when Havertz stood over the ball? The German scored to crown Chelsea as champions of Europe and then the world and now scored to try and help Chelsea win the League Cup.

Liverpool’s set piece specialist proved why he is so dangerous from a dead ball scenario when he fired the ball into the side netting, past the outstretched Kepa.

Similar to Trent, Reece James is known for his deliveries into the box. However, over the past season he has established himself as a very strong penalty taker. Showing his confidence, after scoring he shushed the screaming Liverpool fans.

Salah hadn’t put on his best performance throughout the game however, his class is undeniable. The Egyptian’s strike was emphatically fired into the top right-hand corner. It was a heart in mouth moment as from the angle I was stood at, it looked as if he may have missed.

Jorginho’s penalty technique often splits opinion. In some cases, it completely embarrasses the opposition goalkeeper however, like Jordan Pickford was in the Euro 2020 final, if they’re switched on it can be saved. On this occasion the Italian sent Kelleher the wrong way and the shoot out into sudden death.

As a Chelsea fan, it is extremely demoralising to see players like Jota, Robertson and Origi are yet taken a spot kick yet. The Portuguese forward continued his Premier League form, coolly firing his penalty into the back of the net.

There is a running joke between a few of my friends that, because of the winding runs and long shots he makes during a game, Rudiger would rather be a striker than a defender. The German fired his penalty as if he was a striker, side-footing the ball into the right-hand side of the goal.

Origi fired the ball down the centre of the goal in what was seemingly a bit of a poor penalty because if Kepa had been able to get the slightest touch, it would have probably cannoned out.

Kante is slowly changing his image of being someone who is solely a defensive midfielder and more into someone who is a world class box-to-box midfielder. Not only has his attacking output increased but his technique as well.

Whilst Robertson’s stats are not quite as strong as Trent’s, they are still brilliant. The quality that both full backs have is nothing short of world-class. Robertson’s penalty followed the status quo as he sent the keeper the wrong way.

As Werner walked up to the penalty spot, the volume in Liverpool’s half of Wembley went up by ten-fold. Maybe they thought he could have been easily intimidated however, the penalty was fired under Kelleher who couldn’t quite stretch far enough to make the save.

As the youngest person to ever represent Liverpool in a final, I hoped the occasion might get the better of Harvey Elliot, but he very quickly proved me wrong by sending Kepa the wrong way.

Thiago Silva’s penalty represented his whole career in England… cool, calm and collected. You wouldn’t have been able to tell he was Chelsea’s ninth penalty with the small stutter in his run-up, sending Kelleher the wrong way.

As you will be able to hear, I was not able to contain my excitement when Kepa got a hand to Konate’s penalty. If you were being critical you could say that the Spaniard should keep it out however the penalty was hit with a lot of venom.

The young English defender has had a rollercoaster of a season so far. The way he performed and put the ball into the back of the net repaid every ounce of faith that Tuchel has put into him.

When it gets to the keeper’s taking penalties, you can only hope. Every prayer made by Liverpool fans came true when Kelleher smashed the ball into the top left corner.

It was written in the stars for Kepa. To go from losing the 2019 Carabao Cup Final after refusing to be subbed off to then scoring a penalty to help Chelsea win three years later. It was meant to be. It would have been poetic. It would have been glorious. Unfortunately, the Spaniard sent the ball into Row Z.

You’ll forgive me for not capturing the trophy lift but being surrounded by around 40,000 singing and celebrating Liverpool fans was not the place I wanted to be.

On the drive home we listened to talkSPORT and listened to the reaction of the fans. Someone made the point that Kepa’s substitution was completely unsuccessful as he didn’t make a single save and missed the deciding penalty.

Whilst the factual information with that statement is true, the sentiment behind it is wrong; the only different behind the Spaniard’s shootout performance and Caoimhin Kelleher’s is the fact that the Irishman scored.

Being a Chelsea fan surrounded by Liverpool fans in Wembley was a very unique experience but not one I would repeat. It’s a funny story and one that I will be able to tell for a long time.

Chelsea missed multiple opportunities to take the lead in normal time, with Mount firing wide on multiple occasions. If it also wasn’t for Mendy’s man-of-the-match performance the game wouldn’t have seen penalties. However, if Kepa had not treated his penalty like it was a goal-kick, we could be having a very different conversation.

Liverpool fans celebrating their shootout victory