Diogo Jota’s decisive penalty sent Liverpool to the Carabao Cup’s semi finals at the expense of Leicester City
By Kehinde Okeowo
Liverpool fought back to force a shootout which they won after Caoimhin Kelleher saved penalties from Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand.
Diogo Jota fired home the decisive penalty as Liverpool advanced to their first Carabao Cup semi-final since 2017 and
punished Leicester City for wasting two goals.
Leicester raced into an early lead after Jamie Vardy scored a brace in the 9th and 13th minutes to give the visitors a 2-0 lead at Anfield.
Oxlade-Chamberlain reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 19th minute after he scored from an assist from Brazilian striker, Roberto Firmino.
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James Maddison restored Leicesters’ lead to 3-1 in the 33rd minute after he reacted first to a rebound from Caoimhin Kelleher’s initial save from Jamie Vardy.
Jurgen Klopp Introduced Jota as a half-time substitute after his side had gone 3-1 down, and he breathed life into the home side when he belted Takumi Minamino’s assist into the corner.
Minamino then scored in the 95th minute to take the contest into penalties when he controlled James Milner’s cross and fired it past Kasper Schmeichel to level the game 3-3.
The Japanese star then missed an opportunity to win the shootout for Liverpool when his penalty hit the bar after Caoimhin Kelleher had denied Luke Thomas.
But Ryan Bertrand’s miss afterward gave Jota the chance to win it for Liverpool in sudden death and he kept his nerve to score, steering Liverpool into the semifinal for a meeting with Arsenal.
