Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 Carabao Cup draw at Anfield. Morgan Rogers and Cody Gakpo converted first-half spot-kicks, then Joe Gomez scored and Wesley Fofana blazed over in sudden death to send Liverpool into a quarter-final against Bournemouth.
Liverpool, England: The decisive moment of a long Carabao Cup night came from a kick that never threatened the net. Wesley Fofana, Chelsea’s eighth taker, sent his penalty over the bar after Joe Gomez had put Liverpool ahead in sudden death, and Anfield erupted. Neither side scored from open play, yet the tie produced two penalties in normal time, sixteen more in the shootout and a quarter-final place for Andoni Iraola’s side against Bournemouth, the club he left to take over at Liverpool.
Two penalties in three minutes
Chelsea, led by Xabi Alonso on his first return to Anfield since taking the job, went ahead late in the first half. Ryan Gravenberch fouled Moisés Caicedo in the box, and Morgan Rogers sent Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way from the spot.
The lead lasted barely three minutes. A corner struck the raised arm of Fofana, the referee pointed to the spot again, and Cody Gakpo made no mistake, placing his penalty into the bottom left corner. The half ended level, and the second period belonged to the goalkeepers.
Penders and Mamardashvili hold firm
Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz had just come on when Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders tipped a Barcola effort around the post. Levi Colwill made a block in front of Wirtz as Liverpool pushed for a winner, while at the other end Mamardashvili saved from Marco Palestra after a surging run from Rogers. Neither side could find a winner, and the tie went to penalties.
Five misses and a Fofana farewell
The first seven kicks all went in. Valentin Barco then hit the inside of the post for Chelsea, and Kostas Tsimikas, with the chance to win it for Liverpool, blazed his effort over the bar. Jordan Henderson, who captained Liverpool before moving to Chelsea, scored to keep his side alive and send the shootout into sudden death.
Barcola and Colwill both converted in the sixth round, but the seventh brought a pair of saves: Penders kept out Gravenberch, and Mamardashvili denied Emmanuel Emegha. Gomez then drove his kick into the top right corner. Fofana, whose raised arm had given Liverpool their first-half penalty, needed to score to stay in the tie and sent his effort over the bar.
A route to the last eight
Liverpool were drawn against Bournemouth in the quarter-finals, scheduled for the week commencing 14 December. They join Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Sunderland in the last eight, along with Fleetwood Town, who knocked out Arsenal in a penalty shootout at Highbury and now face Everton or Newcastle United.
The win followed Iraola’s first league victory at Anfield, a 2-0 win over Brighton on Sunday. Chelsea, beaten 2-0 at home by Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, leave Merseyside out of the cup days after that league defeat.
Result: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Liverpool win 6-5 on penalties), Carabao Cup fourth round, Anfield, Wednesday 28 October 2026.
Goals: Rogers (penalty, Chelsea) and Gakpo (penalty, Liverpool), both in the first half.
Shootout scorers: Liverpool: Mac Allister, Isak, Gakpo, Wirtz, Barcola, Gomez. Chelsea: Neto, Rogers, Lavia, Henderson, Colwill. Missed: Liverpool: Tsimikas, Gravenberch. Chelsea: Barco, Emegha, Fofana.
Next: Liverpool v Bournemouth, Carabao Cup quarter-final, week commencing 14 December.
