Liverpool Beat Chelsea 6-5 on Penalties After 1-1 Carabao Cup Draw

Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1. Liverpool won 6-5 on penalties at Anfield on Wednesday night, October 28, to reach the Carabao Cup quarter finals, where they will play Bournemouth in the week commencing December 14.

Both goals came from the penalty spot in a three minute spell before half time. Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead in the 40th minute after Ryan Gravenberch fouled Moises Caicedo in the box. Cody Gakpo levelled in the 43rd minute after Wesley Fofana handled. The attendance was 60,214, according to Liverpool's own match report. Neither side scored again, and the tie went straight to a shootout.

The shootout, kick by kick

The first seven kicks went in. Then the misses started. Valentin Barco hit the post for Chelsea, and Konstantinos Tsimikas wasted the chance to win it for Liverpool by shooting over. Jordan Henderson, who once captained Liverpool, scored for Chelsea to keep his new club alive. Bradley Barcola and Levi Colwill both converted as the shootout moved into sudden death. Mike Penders saved from Gravenberch, which handed Chelsea the chance to win, but Giorgi Mamardashvili saved from Emmanuel Emegha, who was making his Chelsea debut as a substitute. Joe Gomez then scored for Liverpool. Fofana, whose handball had given Liverpool their first half penalty, needed to score to keep Chelsea in the tie. He put the kick over the bar and into the Kop.

Penders had a strong night in a losing cause. Reports credited the Chelsea goalkeeper with saves from Gakpo, Ronald Araujo and Barcola in open play and from Gravenberch in the shootout. Mamardashvili also denied Marco Palestra late in normal time, a save that kept the tie level before the shootout began.

What the result means

Liverpool stay in a competition they treat as a real route to a trophy, and they did it without extra time on a night when the squad was rotated. For Chelsea, the exit is the second bad result in five days. They lost at home to Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, and they now travel to Manchester United on Saturday in the league with one fewer competition and a goalkeeper debate settled, at least, in Penders' favor on form. Fofana also carries the hard part of this story: a handball that gave away a penalty, and the last kick of the night over the bar.

The rest of the fourth round

Holders Manchester City also needed penalties, beating Brighton 4-3 in a shootout after a 2-2 draw. Bournemouth beat Aston Villa 3-0, Sunderland beat Brentford 3-2, and Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Fulham. Fleetwood Town knocked out Arsenal on penalties on Tuesday, and Bradford City beat Peterborough United 2-0.