25th February, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Virgil van Dijk scored a late extra-time goal as Liverpool beat Chelsea by a lone goal to be crowned Carabao Cup champions at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
The match produced no goal in 90 minutes, which necessitated an extra-time and a possible shootout to decide the winner.
But Van Dijk scored two minutes to the end of extra-time to hand the trophy over to Liverpool which have now won the Carabao Cut for the 10th time.
Van Dijk jumped highest inside the box to meet a perfectly executed corner kick by Konstantinos Tsimikas. His header was precise and ended up inside the left post, leaving the goalkeeper flapping in the wind to make it 1-0.
Earlier in the 14th minute, Luis Diaz darted into the penalty area to latch on to a pass, and he unleashed a low shot in the direction of the left post. Djordje Petrovic was alert and denied him with a nice save.
There was controversy and anger in the 32nd minute as Raheem Sterling had a goal ruled out offside.
In the 40th minute, Cody Gakpo had a good opportunity when he latched on to a cross from the wing, but his header from the six-yard box was not accurate enough and the ball glanced away off the right post.
Harvey Elliott, in the 58th minute, got on the end of a pass and produced a promising first-time shot towards the left side of the goal. His effort was blocked by Djordje Petrovic with a brilliant diving save.
Two minutes later, Van Dijk peeled away from his marker to meet the resulting free kick from Andrew Robertson, and he steered a powerful header from near the penalty spot inside the left post, but the goal was ruled offside after VAR check.
In the 86th minute, Conor Gallagher latched onto a pullback in the box right in front of goal, but his shot towards the bottom right corner was pretty weak and Caoimhin Kelleher made an easy save.
Two minutes into added time, Cole Palmer quickly picked up the rebound and shot towards the bottom right corner. The goalkeeper pulled off a stunning save to deny him.
Christopher Nkunku made a yard for himself as he picked up the rebound after chaos in the box and quickly sent a shot towards the right post. The goalkeeper pulled off a remarkable save to keep the ball out.