Man City wins shootout after keeper row
LONDON: Manchester City retained the English League Cup by beating Chelsea 43 on penalties after a bizarre climax to the Wembley showpiece yesterday when Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be substituted.
Nothing could separate the sides as the match finished 00 after extra time but it was City which claimed the season’s first major silverware as it won the shootout.
Raheem Sterling fired the decisive spot kick past Spaniard Arrizabalaga to complete the first part of what could be a quadruple for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Minutes earlier, Arrizabalaga had been involved in surely one of the strangest incidents in a Wembley final when he defied Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri’s orders to come off in the closing minutes of extra time after appearing to be injured.
Sarri, who had told substitute keeper Willy Caballero to take over from Arrizabalaga, was left fuming in the technical area at the open show of mutiny by one of his players.
‘‘It was a big misunderstanding because I understood the keeper had cramp and was unable to go to the penalties. But it was not cramp and he could go to the penalties,’’ Sarri said.
To compound matters, Arrizabalaga then dived over Sergio Aguero’s weak penalty during the shootout.
He did save from Leroy Sane but when Chelsea defender David Luiz struck the post with his spot kick, it was left to Sterling to smash his penalty high into the roof of the net and send the City fans into delirium after a tense afternoon.
‘‘Of course I’m happy. Compliments to Chelsea, they played an incredible performance,’’ Guardiola, who claimed his 25th major trophy as a manager, said.
‘‘I’m happy to win back to back in this competition for the first time in the club’s history.’’
The failure of Chelsea and City to score over 90 minutes mirrored an insipid Premier League game at Old Trafford earlier in the day that led to Pep Guardiola’s side being knocked off top spot by Liverpool.
A 00 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool featured more injuries than outstanding chances, and players actually leaving the Old Trafford field.
United had to make three substitutions in the first 43 minutes alone as Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and substitute Jesse Lingard all hobbled off a while Liverpool also lost striker Roberto Firmino to injury in the first half.
Liverpool moved ahead of City into top spot by a single point. Now both teams have played the same number of games.
Arsenal climbed into fourth place after Alexandre Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealed a 20 home win over Southampton.
The southcoast side ends the weekend in the relegation zone. — Reuters/AP