Liverpool Outlasts Chelsea in Penalty Kicks to Win UEFA Super Cup
Liverpool returned to the site of its most famous penalty shootout and emerged with the trophy after shining on spot kicks yet again.
On a far less significant stage than the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, Liverpool outlasted Chelsea 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Turkey in the UEFA Super Cup, giving the Reds the title in the annual match that pits the reigning Champions League and Europa League winners against one another.
The two played to an entertaining 1-1 draw through regulation, with U.S. star Christian Pulisic making the most of his first start for Chelsea by assisting on Olivier Giroud's opener. Sadio Mane pulled Liverpool level a few minutes after halftime, though, and neither side could find a go-ahead strike–though Chelsea twice had goals disallowed for offside, including one by Pulisic.
In the first half of extra time, Mane fired Liverpool ahead after a wonderful combination with Roberto Firmino, only to have that goal answered by a Jorginho penalty after Tammy Abraham was adjuged to have been taken down in the box, sending the two to a PK shootout to determine the winner.
In the shootout, Liverpool struck first, with Firmino calmly burying his spot kick, only for Jorginho to follow suit for Chelsea. Fabinho clinically buried his kick past a rooted Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Ross Barkley did the same for the Blues, going to the same side as Fabinho, just with immense power. Kepa got a hand to Divock Origi's kick on Liverpool's third chance from the spot, but not enough to keep it out, but Mason Mount roofed his powerful chance to make it 3-3 after three rounds.
Trent Alexander-Arnold tucked Liverpool's fourth kick just inside the left post to keep the Reds perfect, but Emerson Palmieri did the same for Chelsea, sending the shootout to the fifth round with both sides unblemished. Mohamed Salah made it 5-for-5 for Liverpool with his chance that sent Kepa the wrong way, setting the stage for Adrian to be the hero, with the backup goalkeeper denying Abraham with a kick save.
The two sides entered the match following polar opposite opening weekends to Premier League play. Liverpool thrashed Norwich City 4-1 (though lost goalkeeper Alisson to injury in the process), while Chelsea fell to Manchester United 4-0 in the managerial debut at the club for Frank Lampard, as Pulisic made his Chelsea debut off the bench.
On Wednesday, he was given the start for Chelsea in a front line with Olivier Giroud and Pedro, while N'Golo Kante also returned to Lampard's XI after recovering from injury, assuming his role as the club's midfield anchor. On the other end, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his first competitive start for Liverpool in a year and a half as he battled serious injury, while Adrian got the call in goal in Alisson's place.
The match was significant for another reason as well, as referee Stephanie Frappart became the first female to officiate a major men's UEFA match.
Liverpool nearly struck in sensational fashion to open the scoring early. Mane, fresh off his run with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, tried to connect on an audacious bicycle kick in the sixth minute, and while he didn't time it right, the ball appeared to come off the arm of Chelsea's Andreas Christiansen. The play went unreviewed, though, and Liverpool failed to do anything from the ensuing corner kick.
Liverpool enjoyed the better of the run of play over the opening quarter hour, with Chelsea's best chance coming on a speculative Pedro change from long range that didn't curl enough to the far post. The Reds, meanwhile, maintained pressure on Chelsea and used an aerial approach when trying to break through, peppering crosses from both sides into the box, to no avail.
Liverpool's first serious threat came from Salah, who forced a save from Kepa in the 17th minute on a short-range chance from the right side.
Chelsea had a close call of its own in the 23rd minute. Pedro broke through on the left side of the box and fired away only to blast his chance off the crossbar to complete an otherwise strong sequence in the final third.
Chelsea continued to pressure, with Giroud firing wide on an acrobatic bicycle kick attempt.
Liverpool fired back on the other end through Mane, who got on the end of James Milner's corner, only to be denied by Kepa.
The opener came in the 36th minute from Chelsea, and Pulisic was right in the center of the action. The American played a well-timed and placed ball for Giroud, who beat Adrian from a left-sided angle to make it 1-0 to the Blues.
Pulisic nearly had a goal of his own minutes later. He got in behind the Liverpool defense down the left-hand side before taking off for goal, cutting back on two Liverpool defenders and beating Adrian with a wonderful low finish, but the goal was disallowed for offside, forcing the Pennsylvania native to wait a little longer for his first official goal in a Chelsea shirt.
Liverpool didn't take long after the halftime restart to pull even. Firmino came on at halftime for Oxlade-Chamberlain and made an instant impact, toeing the offside line to volley a ball over the top with a back-heel into Mane's path. Kepa went to ground and got a hand to it, but he couldn't fully control the ball, which squirted into Mane's path. Facing an empty net, the Liverpool forward rolled in the equalizer in the 49th minute to make it 1-1.
Moments after Pulisic was taken off as part of a double sub for Chelsea, Liverpool nearly went ahead, only to be denied by a sensational double save by Kepa. He had help from Abraham, who had just checked in, in clearing a ball off the line on a shot from Salah before scrambling to recover and deflect Virgil van Dijk's chance on the rebound off the underside of the crossbar and out to keep the match at 1-1.
Chelsea had a second great goal disallowed for offside in the waning minutes, when Mount, just in off the bench, beat Adrian with a precise finish from the left. Like Pulisic before him, he, too, was offside before receiving the pass, taking the tally off the board.
Chelsea would be left to rue its close calls, as Mane fired Liverpool ahead in extra time. He worked a clinical combination down the left with Firmino, playing the Brazilian down the left-hand side before receiving his return pass and powering a first-time finish by Kepa to make it 2-1 in the 95th minute.
The lead didn't last long. Abraham was ruled to have been taken down by a sliding Adrian in the Liverpool box as the LFC goalkeeper was going to ground to make a play on the ball. Jorginho capitalized from the spot after the call was upheld by VAR, bringing Chelsea level at 2-2 in the 101st minute.
Abraham came inches from turning in the go-ahead goal for Chelsea, failing to tuck his glancing chance inside the far post and instead pushing it wide soon after the equalizer.
Chelsea twice came close to going ahead in the 113th minute. First, a sprawling Adrian denied Mount's chance from 18 yards, with the goalkeeper making a strong save. On Chelsea's ensuing attack, Pedro did well to juke his way through the Liverpool defense, only to curl his 20-yard chance inches wide of the right post.
Here were the lineups for both sides:
Liverpool resumes Premier League play Saturday with a quick turnaround to play at Southampton, while Chelsea returns to Stamford Bridge to host Leicester City on Sunday.
