By Kian Roy
Andoni Iraolas Liverpool side looked to of put their early Anfield troubles behind them as they have now won three games in a row at home after beating Chelsea in the Carabao cup 6-5 on penalties.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the ninety minutes and the first chance of the game didn’t come until the 37th minutes when Malo Gusto played a ball in behind the Liverpool defence into Moises Caicedo who was brought down by reckless challenge by Ryan Gravenberch resulting in a penalty to the blues. Morgan Rogers stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched it into the right-hand side of the goal sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way.
The reds responded 4 minutes later when Kostas Tsmikas floated a corner into the Chelsea box which came of Wesley Fofanas hand resulting in another penalty this time to the home side. Cody Gakpo drove the penalty into the left-hand side of the goal bringing the score level at half time.
Chelsea came out the second half quickest when the ball fell to Morgan Rogers inside the Liverpool penalty area and his strike was saved by Mamadashvili keeping the scores level.
Liverpool’s first chance of the second half came in the 60th minute when Joe Gomez swung a cross into the penalty area finding Ronald Araujo who was only able to head the ball straight down the middles at Mike Penders who made the save. This save led to a instant Chelsea counter attack as Moises Caicedo cleared his lines and found Rogers instantly in behind the reds defence but Joe Gomez recovered excellently to get the block in and put it behind for a corner.
Bradley Barcola was next too come close for the reds when he drove with the ball through the Chelsea midfield but his shot was put behind for a corner by Mike Penders. Marco Palestra also came close for Chelsea when his low driven shot into the bottom left hand corner was met by Giorgi Mamardashivili in the 77th minute.
The match concluded at 1-1 and went straight to penalties in which both keepers shone but Liverpool came out on top 6-5 winners. A Giorgi Mamadarshvili save from Emegha’s penalty and a Wesley Fofana miss ended up being decisive as Iraola’s side advanced to the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup.
Three wins in a row at home for Liveroool who look to have out and end to their poor home form at the start of the season. Iraola will face his former club AFC Bournemouth at Anfield in the quarter final stage.
