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Liverpool Chelsea shootout drama ended with Joe Gomez scoring and Wesley Fofana missing as the Reds advanced 6-5 on penalties at Anfield. The Carabao Cup fourth-round tie on October 28 had finished 1-1, leaving a sequence of spot-kicks to decide which club would continue towards a Wembley final.
Liverpool’s reward is a home quarter-final against Bournemouth. That pairing gives Andoni Iraola’s side a clear next step in the competition, but the immediate story belongs to a night on which two first-half penalties were followed by a long wait for a decisive moment.
Two penalties level the first half
The official results record puts Morgan Rogers’ opener in the 40th minute and Cody Gakpo’s equaliser in the 43rd. The short gap between the goals meant Chelsea’s advantage did not survive to the interval. Both finishes came from the spot, rather than from an open-play breakthrough.
Chelsea’s penalty followed a challenge by Ryan Gravenberch on Moises Caicedo. Liverpool then received their own spot-kick for a Fofana handball at a corner. Gakpo converted to restore parity. The sequence changed the score twice within a few minutes, but neither side would find another goal before the shootout.
Selection choices had already been part of Liverpool’s week, as covered in our Brighton team-news report. A cup tie creates another opportunity to use the squad, alongside the need to keep progressing. This time, several players outside the previous starting side were given responsibility against Premier League opposition.
The goalkeepers helped keep the score level after the break. Giorgi Mamardashvili dealt with efforts from Rogers and Pedro Neto, while Mike Penders saved a Ronald Araujo header and a Bradley Barcola attempt. Those interventions ensured the early exchange of penalties remained the only scoring in normal time.
Iraola makes seven changes
In its match report, Liverpool records seven changes from the side that beat Brighton. Araujo, Gakpo, Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk retained their places. Mamardashvili started in goal, while Trey Nyoni, James McConnell, Lewis Koumas and Rio Ngumoha were among those selected.
Florian Wirtz and Barcola replaced McConnell and Koumas in the 58th minute. Alexander Isak and Alexis Mac Allister were introduced later, with Jeremy Jacquet also appearing from the bench. Iraola therefore used both the starting selection and substitutions to distribute the work through a demanding home cup tie.
Chelsea had approached the match without Joao Pedro. In his pre-match update, Xabi Alonso said the forward had a thigh injury and would be unavailable for several weeks, while Emmanuel Emegha was back in contention. That was the selection context before kick-off; it should be kept separate from judging the players who took part.
Caicedo’s influence had featured in our earlier analysis of Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth. At Anfield, his involvement in winning the first penalty became one of the evening’s important incidents. It gave Chelsea an opening, even though Liverpool’s response quickly removed the lead.
Gomez delivers when the shootout reaches him
Gomez’s account afterwards focused on staying in the contest and being ready for the possibility of penalties. Speaking to ITV, in an interview published by Liverpool, he described the tension as the shootout continued and his satisfaction when his own effort went in. His contribution became the one that put the next kick’s pressure back on Chelsea.
Fofana then missed, ending the contest with Liverpool ahead 6-5 in the shootout. That figure is separate from the 1-1 match score. It records the successful spot-kicks in the deciding sequence, rather than seven additional goals being added to a conventional scoreline.
There was no extra-time period between the draw and the shootout. Chelsea’s competition guide explains that these ties go straight to penalties when level after second-half stoppage time, with extra time introduced later in the competition. The players therefore moved from trying to win the match into a different kind of individual test.
Nyoni earns recognition as the schedule moves on
Nyoni was voted Liverpool’s Player of the Match in the supporters’ poll on the club website. That is recognition from participating fans, rather than a separate independent award. It adds another strand to the evening: the final penalty sequence decided the result, while a young midfielder’s contribution across the match also drew attention.
The opportunity for younger players connects with the broader development themes in our profile of Arsène Wenger’s youth work. One cup appearance cannot establish a player’s whole trajectory. It can, however, give supporters a meaningful performance to assess against strong opposition and under the pressure of a knockout tie.
Liverpool’s route to this stage included a 3-1 win over Tottenham in September. Their recent results also show the 2-0 league victory over Brighton immediately before Chelsea’s visit. Those games belong to different competitions, but together they explain the sequence of fixtures around Iraola’s decision to change his starting side.
The Bournemouth quarter-final is scheduled for the week beginning December 14. Liverpool says the confirmed fixture and ticket details will follow. Until those are announced, the draw establishes the opponent and the broad timing, rather than a settled kick-off that supporters should use to make final arrangements.
First comes a return to league football. Liverpool’s current schedule lists Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, November 1, while Chelsea host Manchester United on Saturday, October 31. The shootout has kept one club’s cup campaign alive and ended the other’s, but both now have another demanding opponent to prepare for.
Featured archival photograph: Daniel / Wikimedia Commons, March 6, 2014. Anfield exterior before later stadium developments. CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Resized. Not a photograph from the October 2026 match.
Isiagu Tobby
Wowplus editorial contributor.
