Willy Caballero saved three penalties as Manchester City claimed the Capital One Cup with a 3-1 shoot-out victory over Liverpool following a 1-1 draw at Wembley.
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Goalkeeper Willy Caballero was the hero as City won 3-1 on penalties, with Caballero saving three of Liverpool’s attempts.
Coutinho’s 83rd-minute strike forced extra time after Fernandinho put City in front early in the second half. Then came penalties as Fernandinho struck the post with City’s first attempt, but Lucas’ effort was impressively saved by Caballero, who then kept out a weak spot-kick from Coutinho and made a stunning stop from Lallana.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is confident that winning the League Cup will give his team the required morale boost to reignite their sagging campaign in the English Premier League (EPL).
“I’d rather lose the title than lose my word”.
Jurgen Klopp was blunt in describing his mood after losing his first major final as Liverpool manager, saying the Wembley defeat felt like “s–“‘.
“He had problems with the muscle when he shot the penalty and he has got some more problems so I think he is not available”, said Klopp.
It is, however, becoming a familiar feeling for Klopp, who has now lost four consecutive cup finals dating back to former club Borussia Dortmund’s 2013 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich at the same stadium.
I was speaking to Phil Thompson on Saturday and we thought whoever won the cup final would probably lose this game.
Liverpool are still alive in the Europa League, where they are due to meet fierce rivals Manchester United in a last 16 tie; it will be the first time the two sides have met in Europe.
Neither side could force a victor in extra-time, which allowed Caballero to assume centre stage, as Liverpool lost only their fourth penalty shoot-out in 18 attempts. Sturridge played 120 minutes against City, and looked physically shattered at the end. There are still 36 points to play for in the Premier League, which is a lot of games. They are now nine points behind league leaders Leicester, but have a game in hand.
“You have to try to take positives from it and learn from these experiences”, he said.
“You know you can fall down, but you have to stand up”.
“Tonight we feel rubbish, s***, but if we carry on and work really hard there is light at the end of the tunnel”.
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Fernandinho had scored City’s 49th minute opener when his shot slipped under Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, but he then missed his team’s first penalty in the shoot-out. With these changes, we changed something in the game – we were really in the game, controlled the game, had good direction and stayed patient.
