Chelsea were defeated in the cruelest of circumstances in the Carabao Cup final, in a penalty shoot-out that went all the way to the goalkeepers, having had three goals ruled out for offside during the match.
There wasn’t a huge amount to pick between the teams during most of an evenly contested 120 minutes, although after a good start by Liverpool it was Chelsea who came into the game the longer it went on, creating the better of the chances in terms of quality and quantity.
Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher made a series of saves to keep things goalless, especially in denying Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic either side of half-time.
There was also controversy surrounding the officials, as they failed to punish Naby Keita for a studs-up challenge that caught Trevoh Chalobah at waist height, as well as disallowing four goals over the course of the match.
The first was by Liverpool following an already soft free-kick, but the next three were all Chelsea. Havertz was denied twice by the linesman’s flag but the most controvesial was when Lukaku broke free and turned his marker before slotting in from close range, with VAR failing to intervene again, despite replays appearing to show the Belgian level.
That meant the game went all the way to penalties and, after the first 10 players on each side had found the net, it fell to the goalkeepers. Kelleher found the top corner so it was substitute Kepa Arrizabalaga who suffered the shoot-out heartache on this occasion, as his shot went over the crossbar in sudden death.