Liverpool remain in the hunt for a historic quadruple after winning the FA Cup following another Wembley penalty shootout against Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp’s side repeated their Carabao Cup final victory in February, the decisive moment coming when Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson saved Mason Mount’s spot-kick, leaving Kostas Tsimikas to secure Liverpool’s second trophy of the season.
The Reds are still in the Premier League title race and have the Champions League final to come against Real Madrid.
Liverpool had the better of an eventful final, with the outstanding Luis Diaz and Andrew Robertson hitting the woodwork, although it may come at a price with Mohamed Salah going off injured in the first half and Virgil van Dijk going off after 90 minutes.
It is a devastating blow for Chelsea and manager Thomas Tuchel to lose in this manner yet again as they had chances – with Marcos Alonso hitting the post and also being denied by Alisson – but become the first side to lose three successive FA Cup finals.
When Edouard Mendy saved Senegal team-mate Sadio Mane’s penalty in the shootout, when the Liverpool forward only needed to score to win the FA Cup, it just seemed for one moment that the Reds’ assault on four trophies might just be interrupted.
Alisson put Liverpool back on course when he saved from Mount, who was inconsolable as Tsimikas sent the Liverpool fans wild by converting the final penalty.
Once again Liverpool had prevailed against fiercely disciplined and determined opponents, even though they lost Salah to what looked like a muscle injury before half-time and Van Dijk did not emerge for extra time.
It remains to be seen how serious those problems are but at present it looks like Liverpool can overcome most obstacles put in front of them, even though it once again took penalties to claim their first FA Cup since 2006.
