SummaryThanks to a deserved 0-2 victory over Arsenal, Liverpool qualified for the final of the League Cup tournament on Thursday evening. Virgil van Dijk’s club will once again play a final at Wembley for the first time in six years.
Sjoerd Mossou
Latest update:
20-01-22, 23:51
By Sjoerd Mossou
With clenched fists, Orange captain Virgil van Dijk stood in front of the away section with Liverpool fans, behind the goal, thousands at once traveled to North London. It may only concern the ‘second’ cup tournament in England, but the festivities were no less on Thursday evening.
For the first time since 2016, Liverpool will return to Wembley at the end of February for a final against already seeded Chelsea. Jürgen Klopp’s team had a really hard time at the Emirates Stadium for just 15 minutes. After that, aided by a fine opening goal from Diogo Jota, Liverpool dominated the pitch in almost every way.
Only Alexandre Lacazette had a good chance after the break, running away from Van Dijk’s back, but the striker shot uncontrollably and high. Ten minutes before the end, Jota decided the game with his second goal, initially called back for offside, but after intervention by the VAR it was still 0-2.
The semi-final match led to controversy and cynicism in England beforehand, as Arsenal took on just about the strongest line-up imaginable. Curious, because four days earlier, the London club had forced a cancellation against arch rival Tottenham Hotspur, according to its own words because of an excessive number of Covid infections.
question marks
However, in the semi-final match for the League Cup, manager Mikel Arteta suddenly had an almost complete team at his disposal: something that raised many question marks among supporters and fellow clubs, who see the schedule in the Premier League becoming increasingly unbalanced. ,,All very strange,” said Spurs manager Antonio Conte, but according to Arteta everything had gone exactly according to protocol.
It also didn’t stop Arsenal from getting off to a furious start against Liverpool. Lacazette hit the bar with a nice free kick, but shortly afterwards the visitors got a convincing grip on the game. First a goal by Joël Matip was disallowed, not much later Jota opened the score with a handy solo, introduced by a beautiful chop by Roberto Firmino.
After the break, the Portuguese attacker scored again, now beautifully sent off by Trent Alexander-Arnold on the brink of offside. When the VAR approved the goal in the second instance, the party in the Liverpool section could finally start: 0-2. Above all, Arsenal substitute Thomas Partey caused a stir afterwards, by taking two stupid yellow cards shortly after his substitute. For many home supporters this is a reason to leave for home.
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