Liverpool edges Stoke to reach League Cup final
LIVERPOOL, England — Juergen Klopp sat behind a wall of Liverpool players and coaching staff, using the reaction of fans to gauge the ebb and flow of the penalty shootout.
In the end, the eruption inside Anfield told him everything he needed to know: Liverpool was heading to Wembley Stadium.
Liverpool beat Stoke 6-5 on penalties to reach the English League Cup final on Tuesday, ensuring Klopp a shot at silverware in his first season at Anfield. Joe Allen was the match-winner in the second leg, curling the decisive spot kick into the top right-hand corner — not that Klopp knew it.
The German coach didn’t see a single attempt in the shootout. He just watched the cheers and groans of the fans.
“Usually I want to see them, but then the first row in the crowd can’t see anything. I’m tall, you know,” Klopp said. “So I said, ‘Come on then. I can’t spend 15 minutes on my knees’ ... I sat on a chair and I saw nothing. Felt good, only watching the crowd. In the end, we won without me watching.”
Stoke won the match 1-0 after extra time thanks to Marko Arnautovic’s goal in first-half injury time, taking the match to penalties at 1-1 on aggregate.
Both sides failed to convert one of their first five penalties — Peter Crouch for Stoke and Emre Can for Liverpool — and the shootout went to sudden death. Stoke defender Marc Muniesa saw his effort saved by Simon Mignolet, and Allen was given an opportunity to win it that he didn’t waste. He was mobbed by his teammates.
“I was nervous,” Allen said. “There was confusion about who would take the seventh penalty but I picked the right corner.”
Liverpool will play either Everton — its Merseyside neighbour — or Manchester City in the Feb. 28 final at Wembley. Everton leads 2-1 heading into the second leg today.
“I hear it would be the biggest thing — but only if we beat them,” said Klopp, when asked about the possibility of an all-Merseyside final against Everton.
Stoke won at Anfield after 90 minutes for the first time since 1959 but the victory proved in vain for the Midlands club, which was looking to reach its third final in this competition.
“I thought we were the better team, more likely to score,” Hughes said, “but we aren’t the ones going to Wembley.”
Instead, that honour goes to Liverpool, the most successful team in League Cup history with eight titles. Klopp will be back at Wembley for the first time since he led Borussia Dortmund there in the all-German Champions League final in 2013, won by Bayern Munich.