By: Shane Brennan
Liverpool faced Chelsea on Saturday afternoon in the FA Cup final, The Reds knew that a victory underneath the Wembley arch would see them complete the domestic cup double.
The Reds flew into action from the first whistle, as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane Combined to find Luis Diaz as the Colombian international managed to flash a shot across the face of goal nearly picking out Thiago Alcantara, but the Liverpool midfielder just couldn’t stretch far enough to make contact with the ball as Chelsea survived an early scare!
Then Liverpool flooded forward once again as Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out a brilliant ball to Diaz, to set him clean through on goal with only Edouard Mendy to beat, sadly this time around Mendy pulled off a super save to keep a rampant Liverpool side at bay early on.
Chelsea then found their feet, and perhaps they should have gone in front, when Reece James linked up well with Mason Mount, to pick out a good ball for Christian Pulisic in the box, but the Chelsea forwards luck was out as his shot went just wide of Alisson Becker’s left hand post.
As the game wore on Pulisic’s influence on the cup final was becoming greater, and this time he slipped a lovely ball through to the on rushing Marcos Alonso who had a fantastic chance to score, but like so many times before this season it was Alisson who bailed The Reds out, as he produced a fine save when Liverpool needed him most.
Chelsea started the second half much the brighter of the two teams, and it was them who had the first significant chance of the half when yet again Pulisic managed to create a chance for Alonso from a most accurate cross, but thankfully the Spanish internationals shot went wide on this occasion.
Then Romelu Lukaku’s strength proved to be too much for the Liverpool defence, and in turn he managed to set up Pulisic who had a golden chance to put his side in front, but once again Alisson was to come out on top in a one on one situation.
Luis Diaz tried to create a chance all of his own making as he turned, twisted and swivelled expertly to find a few yards of space, as he got a good shot away that went agonisingly wide, as the battle of two of the great sides of English football roared on.
It was Naby Keita’s turn next to turn creator for The Reds, as he found Diogo Jota, but this time around he could only lash his shot wide of Mendy’s left hand post.
Before the end of the ninety minutes, Liverpool had a glorious chance to go on and take the spoils, as Diaz switched the ball to James Milner on the right wing, he in turn picked out Andy Robertson coming in at the back post, but the Scotsman could only fire the ball against the post, as Chelsea survived.
It was Chelsea who had much the better of the extra time play, as they managed to create a big chance through Hakim Ziyech, as he crossed the ball into the area as, the dangerous Pulisic was waiting to pounce, but Alexander-Arnold was on hand to cut out massive danger and keep The Reds on level terms.
Much to Liverpool’s immense credit they managed to cling on for a penalty shootout, as extra time was extremely energy zapping in the London sunshine.
The Reds were almost spot kick perfect once again with four out of the five takers converting without mistake, with Sadio Mane missing the chance to win it for The Reds, the shootout went to sudden death. Fortunately Liverpool were to get a second chance at shootout glory, as Mason Mount’s kick brought a stunning save from Alisson, to give the Greek Scouser Kostas Tsimikas the chance to win the game from the spot, and he obliged sending Mendy the wrong way, and in turn giving the Mighty Conquering Reds an 8th Fa Cup Title .
Up next for Liverpool is a trip to St Marys to face Southampton on Tuesday evening.
