Arsenal sneaks past Liverpool
LONDON: Arsenal squeezed past Liverpool 54 on penalties to advance to the English League Cup quarterfinals yesterday after a goalless 90 minutes.
With the premier league champion making several changes to the team that beat Arsenal in the league 31 on Tuesday and its opponent also rotating, it was always unlikely to be a highclass encounter.
Liverpool had the better chances and should have been awarded a 44thminute penalty when Diogo Jota was brought down in the box.
The resulting free kick eventually led to Takumi Minimino finding space and smashing his closerange shot on to the crossbar.
Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno made two consecutive saves to stop Jota and Marko Grujic and the visitor responded with a chance of its own as Rob Holding's header was punched away by Adrian in the 70th minute. The Gunners also appealed for a penalty in stoppage time when James Milner fell and handled the ball.
The referee, Kevin Friend, did not point to the spot and there is no VAR in the competition.
Arsenal, however, celebrated in the shootout when Joe Willock's spot kick crept under keeper Adrian to send it through.
In other results, Stoke City beat Aston Villa 10 and Brentford beat Fulham 30. — Reuters