Kid Kelleher The Kop Hero!
Liverpool win their 9th League Cup after a nerve shredding Wembley Final
Liverpool win their 9th League Cup after a nerve shredding Wembley Final
It would be easy to jump ahead to the 21st penalty of a penalty shoot-out and Caoimhin Kelleher’s coolly taken kick that put the Reds of Liverpool 11–10 ahead of their Blue and bitter rivals from Chelsea. It would be equally easy to castigate Kepa Arrizabalaga, Chelsea’s substitute goalkeeper and only introduced to the game in the final knockings of an absorbing and nerve shredding Final, and only because of his supposed ability and superiority at saving penalties. He wasn’t sent on as a substitute to score a penalty, but here he was, after 21 consecutive penalties scored that he now found himself having to score to keep his Chelsea team in the Cup Final. He blazed over Kelleher’s crossbar and as the Red shirts descended upon their goalkeeper in jubilation, all I could see was the Irishman in the yellow goalkeeping jersey, and a young man I’d called “Kid” all match long. The kid, Liverpool’s reserve goalkeeper behind the world’s greatest goalkeeper Alisson Becker, that kid in the bright yellow goalkeeping jersey, was the hero, and a hero at the end of an incredibly tense and nerve shattering Final that was heavily dominated by the Blues of Chelsea but which swayed from side to side throughout before the Irishman scored a brilliant penalty and ensured Chelsea saw the Blues of Wembley defeat.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
Kelleher was the hero as early as the 6th minute with a brilliant reaction save from the American International Christian Pulisic after a great 3 man move involving Kai Havertz and Cesar Azpilicueta. The first half of this Wembley Final could easily be dissected into 3 segments of 15 minutes as Chelsea “bossed” the opening 15 minutes with their 3 strikers all playing high, pressing the Liverpool defence and Mateo Kovacic pulling the strings from midfield with some beautifully incisive forward passes. The next 15 minutes of the first half was bitty, scrappy and all Liverpool Red. Sadio Mane had a glaring chance on 18 minutes he headed way, way wide before a quiet Mo Salah drove a promising free-kick way wide too. But the Reds were in the game and took charge midway through the half which culminated in a Naby Keita pass reaching Sadio Mane who’s first shot was brilliantly saved by Edouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal before he miraculously made a follow up save when Mane must have thought he’d score. Mendy hadn’t even got back to his feet before he tipped the rebounded shot over the bar. Liverpool were in the ascendency but back came Chelsea as the first half wore on and they finished the half as strongly as they had begun it. Christian Pulisic was a stand out for the Blues in the first half and forced a sharp save from Kelleher before his Captain Cesar Azpilicueta fired high over his crossbar just before half-time. There was still time for yet another chance for Chelsea before the break, and a chance they’d rue come the end of the Final. The impressive Pulisic was fouled on the edge of the penalty area but with the Referee “playing on” and the footballing advantage very much for Chelsea, the ball found the dangerous and effervescent Mason Mount and he side footed narrowly wide when he simply should have scored. The Referee’s whistle brought the half to an end, an absorbing one too, and one in which Chelsea had shaded the attacking intent and should have been leading rather than the 0–0 score line.
As with the first half, Chelsea were mightily impressive in the first 15 minute period of the second with Pulisic and Havertz a constant attacking threat and their combination on 48 minutes should have resulted in a goal for the Blues, and a minute later Mason Mount would rue yet another chance from which he should have scored. Played through with only Kelleher to beat in the Liverpool goal he somewhat scuffed a shot that hit the inside of the post and bounced to safety for the Reds. Mount followed up with another chance on 58 minutes which brought another good save from Liverpool’s Kelleher and the only seemingly bright spot and indeed spark in the Reds team at this point in the game was Luis Diaz who’s energetic runs had stretched Chelsea all game. Against the run of play Mo Salah had perhaps the best chance of the Final for Liverpool when one-on-one with Edouard Mendy on 64 minutes, but his chip over the advancing goalkeeper was limp and easily cleared off the line by the magnificent, and probable Man of the Match performance from Chelsea’s Brazilian central defender Thiago Silva. He was magnificent all afternoon, spraying passes from defence with the ease, time and class he has in abundance. But he could do nothing about the first goal of the Final on 68 minutes from Joel Matip, a scruffy headed goal at the far post that put Liverpool into a precious 1–0 lead.
Or had it?
From a deft, training ground routine, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick came to Sadio Mane at the far post, who’s header back across the goal fell to Joel Matip who simply couldn’t miss. Amid the raw, loud screams of delight from behind the very goal that Matip had headed into came the groans as Virgil van Dijk was adjudged to have fouled during the initial free-kick and VAR (Video Assistant Referee), that doom monger who simply won’t be consigned to the sporting bin as it should be, disallowed a perfectly good and legitimate goal. In the middle of 90,000 spectators a perfectly good goal had happened before their very eyes and in real time. Now a VAR referee from hundreds of miles away disallows it whilst watching it on a TV monitor. How very 21st Century!
VAR is the death knell of that once “Beautiful Game” and I would have said the same had it happened at the other end of Wembley. Alas.
Matip’s disallowed goal led to a final 15 minutes that Chelsea again dominated as well as looking the fitter, stronger team. Liverpool’s Man of the Match up to this point in the Final was the impressive Luis Diaz who’s run and shot forced a fine save from Mendy in the Chelsea goal before 2 minutes later an equally impressive Kai Havertz had the ball in the Liverpool net but was rightly adjudged offside and the goal disallowed. No need for the dreaded VAR this time. Although Chelsea were the better team as the game inched toward extra-time, the Reds still had an almighty scramble in the Chelsea penalty area where the ball could easily have found it’s way into the Blues net and Virgil van Dijk’s towering header from a corner was palmed away brilliantly by Mendy to keep the score line at 0–0. Then with almost the final kick of the Final, Romelu Lukaku forced a great save from Kelleher at his near post and thus, the Final ventured into an extra 30 minutes.
With a tiring Diaz joining his Captain Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane on the substitutes bench, Liverpool rarely threatened in the extra-time period and in all honesty were hanging on at times for the penalty shoot-out. James Milner brought energy as well as a lovely spat with Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, but Harvey Elliott looked 2 yards off the pace of the Final, Diogo Jota looked at best half fit and Divock Origi did very little. Chelsea had far more energy and guile than Liverpool in the final 30 minutes of outfield play with both Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz scoring but offside and their goals rightly disallowed. This draining, nerve wrenching Final had, beyond all reasons of sane rationality, gone the distance at 0–0 and step forward the “Kid” and a hero in a yellow goalkeeping jersey.
A ridiculously VAR inspired disallowed goal (and the vampiric energy sucker that is the modern game), 3 further rightly disallowed goals on the field of play from the officials, towering performances from Virgil van Dijk and Thiago Silva, flashes of genius from Luis Diaz, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic, 21 consecutive successful penalties, a goalkeeping scorer of a penalty, a goalkeeping substitute who couldn’t save a penalty and who couldn’t score one either. When Mason Mount hit the post early in the 2nd half I had a feeling that the Reds name of Liverpool was already being etched on that beautiful three handled trophy. They rode their luck towards the end of the regulation 90 minutes and hung on for a penalty shoot-out in extra-time.
But step forward Caoimhin Kelleher, the kid in the yellow goalkeeping jersey of Liverpool, the Irish under-study to the greatest goalkeeper in the world.
Today it was the Kid’s turn, and he made an old man cry.
Good on yer kid.
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