**Liverpool head into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after a dramatic penalty shootout victory to deliver knockout blow to Chelsea.**
Morgan Rogers converted from the 12-yard spot after a clumsy tackle from Ryan Gravenberch on Moises Caicedo, who was tripped from behind, to take the lead.
Liverpool replied back similarly from a penalty moments later due to Wesley Fofana’s handball from a corner, which Cody Gakpo converted past Mike Penders to bring the game back to level in the first half.
There were numerous chances for the two teams to find a winner, but the goalkeepers performed well in their shot-stopping duties for the game to be decided in a penalty shootout.
Wesley Fofana never looked confident from the penalty spot, resulting in heartbreak for him and Chelsea, as his penalty was wide of the mark in front of the Kop, as the Liverpool players and Anfield crowd rejoiced.
Andoni Iraola made seven changes to his side after their victory against Brighton, as the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola begun the game on the bench. As for Chelsea, they were without the suspended Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, who picked up a thigh injury, with four changes from Xabi Alonso, but former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson kept his spot in midfield at a ground he’s very familiar with.
The first flashpoint of the game was a Chelsea penalty after Ryan Gravenberch failed to successfully tackle his midfield opposition Moises Caicedo, who made a darting run into the penalty box before being hacked down from behind.
Morgan Rogers stepped up in place of the absence of Palmer and tucked away the penalty emphatically, sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way to give Chelsea the lead.
Just two minutes later, Fofana conceded a penalty for Chelsea after a flailing arm on the Liverpool corner which the ball struck, as Cody Gakpo coolly tucked away his penalty into the bottom left corner to bring the game level.
The Chelsea boss suffered a key injury before half-time to French centre-back Maxence Lacroix, who pulled up with a hamstring issue, forced to make a change which resulted in Levi Colwill being substituted on.
In an attempt to inject some intensity and quality into the attack, Liverpool brought on the attacking power of Wirtz and Barcola just before the hour mark, as the two nearly combined to take the lead.
Penders made a brilliant save from close range to deny loanee Ronald Araujo from a teasing cross into the box by Joe Gomez, before Chelsea went up the other end, Rogers’ breaking through into space, but his shot was blocked by the recovering Gomez.
After no one closed down the former PSG player, Barcola dribbled into space and fired low and hard, denied again by the young goalkeeper who did extremely well to get low and tip it wide of the goalposts.
An outstanding chance fell to substitute Marco Palestra when Rogers played him through on the left, but his right footed attempt was diverted away by the alert Mamardashvili.
Wirtz had his chance to score the winner as Tsimikas swung the ball to the far post, which Gakpo headed back into the German’s path for a shot which was heading in if not for Colwill intervening with a crucial block, before Josh Acheampong cleared the danger.
Neither team was able to find a winner in normal time, so advancement to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup was settled with a penalty shootout.
Liverpool had the chance to win the penalty shootout after Barco’s attempt struck the post, but Tsimikas fired wide right after to keep the shootout level and into a sudden death situation.
As Liverpool were about to exit the tournament after Gravenberch’s blunder, the Georgian international between the sticks guessed the right way to deny Emegha and keep hope alive for the home team.
Ultimately it was Liverpool who booked their spot into the final eight after Fofana blazed wide in front of the Kop End to win the shootout 6-5.
**Liverpool:** Alexis Mac Allister **✓** Alexander Isak **✓** Cody Gakpo **✓** Florian Wirtz **✓** Konstantinos Tsimikas **✗** Bradley Barcola **✓** Ryan Gravenberch **✗** Joe Gomez **✓**
**Chelsea:** Pedro Neto **✓** Morgan Rogers **✓** Roméo Lavia **✓** Valentín Barco **✗** Jordan Henderson **✓** Levi Colwill **✓** Emmanuel Emegha **✗** Wesley Fofana **✗**