Chelsea lost their sixth major cup final in a row, as they were beaten in the Carabao Cup Final against Liverpool.
The Blues losing streak at Wembley is starting to become concerning for Chelsea fans, as they have now lost their last six finals at Wembley. These finals are:
2019 EFL Cup Final - against Manchester City
2020 FA Cup Final - against Arsenal
2021 FA Cup - against Leicester City
2022 EFL Cup Final - against Liverpool (on penalties)
2022 FA Cup Final - against Liverpool (on penalties)
2024 EFL Cup Final - against Liverpool
The match was packed full of shots and clear chances for both sides, with Chelsea taking a total of 19 shots, with 9 on target whereas Liverpool had a total of 24 shots, with 11 on target. Both teams managed to hit the post, have goal line saves and have a goal disallowed due to it being offside. However, despite all of that it still remained 0-0 after 90 minutes.
It was in extra time when fatigue started to kick in for both sides and the changing point was when Chelsea captain, Ben Chilwell, came off for Trevor Chalobah for The Blues after 113 minutes. It was only five minutes later that Virgil Van Dijk scored the one and only goal in the match to secure the victory for Liverpool, due to poor marking from Trevor Chalobah.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was criticised for losing against a weakened Liverpool side on Sunday. He said he has had positive conversations with co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. "They showed their support and after the game Todd sent a nice message," said Pochettino. "I said hello to the owners when I saw them in the stadium and after I met Behdad and we were talking. "We were sharing our opinions about the game and the opportunity we missed to win a trophy because I think we played really well during the 90 minutes." he continued.
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were commentators on Sky Sports for the Final at Wembley on Sunday. There has been much controversy on a comment that Neville made after the Virgil Van Dijk late winner in extra time for Liverpool, “In extra time, it’s been Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottle jobs." He continued by saying, "This is Klopp's last few months as Liverpool boss, but it will be as proud a moment as he's had."
Pochettino responded to Neville's comments during the match,"In three or four years with Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool didn't win a title. Now they are getting what they deserve. For us, after eight months to get a final is a massive achievement. A lot of young players had 90, 120 minutes. Now they know what it is to play a final and they will be better for this experience."
Jurgen Klopp was delighted with the victory against Chelsea, "What we see here today is so exceptional, we might never see again and not because I am on the sideline, because these things don't happen in football."I got told outside that there's an English phrase, 'you don't win trophies with kids' – I didn't know that. Yeah! There are longer careers than mine but in more than 20 years, it's easily the most special trophy I ever won. It's absolutely exceptional."
Both sides now must move forward and look ahead to their FA Cup matches mid week, where Chelsea host Leeds and Liverpool entertain Southampton. A second cup final of the season is just three wins away for each side.