Virgil van Dijk struck in the 118th minute of the Carabao Cup final as youthful Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday to ensure a trophy in manager Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season.
Captain Van Dijk, who had an effort disallowed for offside during regular time, met a Kostas Tsimikas corner with a near-post header that broke the deadlock as penalties loomed.
Chelsea had their chances to win coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first silverware in English football but found Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher in inspired form at Wembley.
Instead it was Klopp raising the trophy, his fifth major honour as Reds boss and the first of a potential quadruple before he steps down at the end of this campaign.
“The schedule is not made for winning a lot. We won tonight, we should cherish that. The rest, give me a few seconds to process how we can step forward from here,” said Klopp.
“What happened here is absolutely insane. I’m so proud that I could be part of that. Wow. The crazy thing is we deserve it. Yes we had lucky moments, but the boys showed up.”
Said Van Dijk: “It was very tough but we got the job done and I’m very proud of the team. First trophy as Liverpool captain. It’s everything. On to more.
“All the young boys playing their part in what we achieved today, it’s incredible. So proud of the team. You should always savour the good moments and this is definitely one of them.”
On a possible quadruple in Klopp’s last year, he added: “It’s almost impossible. Nobody has done that. We focus on the game in front of us. We’ll see.
“What we have to do is go out and enjoy it, and try to stay fit. The talk is about this being Jurgen Klopp’s last season but it’s not within the squad. It doesn’t change our goals.”
Just as in the 2022 final, won by Liverpool on penalties after a 0-0 draw, the shortage of goals did not reflect the ample goalmouth action. Somehow the ball would not go in, however.
Kelleher denied Cole Palmer from close range and Raheem Sterling had a goal against his old side chalked off for offside, while at the other end Cody Gakpo hit a post before half-time.
The high stakes saw tempers fray and Ben Chilwell and Conor Bradley were booked for scuffle before Van Dijk’s header was ruled out for an offside Wataru Endo’s interference.
Van Dijk’s late header won the Carabao Cup for Liverpool against Chelsea
Chelsea’s best spell came in the second half, when Conor Gallagher was denied by the post and then Kelleher, while the ball somehow stayed out during injury-time penalty-box pinball.
But Harvey Elliott gave the Blues a warning in the 115th minute with a header that forced a smart save from Djordje Petrovic, who could not stop Van Dijk’s effort moments later.