The FA Cup celebrated 150 years of history and Liverpool was in charge of crowning it. After 120 minutes and a thrilling penalty shootout, Kostas Tsimikas scored the final by giving the Reds the second trophy of the season, after the Carabao Cup. the men of Jürgen Klopp go for the four titles, with the Premier League and the Champions on the horizon, although Salah retired injured in the first minutes of the final against Chelsea…
A few first minutes in which the gunpowder of the flares still flooded the environment in Wembley. mishap that Liverpool took the opportunity to go out in a storm. louis diaz capitalized from the start on the Reds’ attacking moves down the left wing, a highway for the agile Colombian winger, who in the 9th minute he received a formidable pass with the outside of Trent Alexander-Arnold and was very close to opening the scoringbut Édouard Mendy left his anchor feet and saved the 0-1.
Al Chelsea it took him a quarter of an hour to get into the game, which took him to amass a few possessions and breathe with the ball. This is how the first arrival with danger of Pulisicwhose low shot escaped whistling the right stick of Alisson. The American hitch took advantage of the difficulties of Alexander-Arnold to cover his back and in the 23rd minute he finished again without reaching the goal.
That’s the way it is, the meeting was filled with opportunities in both areasvery much in the style of the final of the Carabao Cup that also faced both teams two months ago and that Tuchel took as a reference in the previous one with a lot of sense of smellalthough the match script changed in the 32nd minute. That was when Mohamed Salah felt muscular discomfort and had to leave substituted to let Diego Jota enter. A blow to Liverpool, who stayed in shock for a few minutes.
The break didn’t seem to help the Reds either and as soon as the second half began they received another shot from the stubborn Pulisicwhich met Alisson. Chelsea seemed to have taken control of the game, with their entire team focused on attack, including Marcos Alonso, who shot a magnificent direct free kick and ran into the crossbar. A scare that, finally, woke up the Liverpool.
Without Salah and with Mané out of tune, Klopp’s men once again entrusted themselves to Díaz, very incisive throughout the match, although without finding the way to the goal. He wasn’t even in the 82′ with a shot that went into the woodwork. The same one that, a minute later, prevented Robertson’s goal, Liverpool’s second punch in the left channelwhere the Reds looked for the 1-0 before the end of regulation time.
They did not succeed, and again, as happened in the Carabo Cup, the final went to extra time. That’s where the game ended Diaz and Pulisic, the two protagonists of the afternoon, who left the field replaced, and with them, the chances and the good game. A prelude to the penalty shootout, in which Azpilicueta and Mount failed and Liverpool won the oldest trophy in football history.