LIVERPOOL — Giorgi Mamardashvili arrived to conduct his post-match media duties with a red-and-white scarf slung around his neck. Moments earlier, the Liverpool goalkeeper had been mobbed on the pitch by his teammates after his penalty shootout heroics had helped the Reds triumph over Chelsea to reach the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.
It had largely been an attritional slog of a game, with neither side able to produce a winner after Morgan Rogers and Cody Gakpo had both converted from the penalty spot in the first-half. But as the Liverpool players danced in front of the Kop to one the club’s unofficial celebratory anthems — Dua Lipa’s “One Kiss” — there was little time to ponder over the obvious areas for improvement.
It was only a fourth-round cup tie, with so much of the season left to run, but this was the kind of joyous occasion that the Anfield crowd thrives on. It is nights like these that play a part in shaping a team and, after a period of turbulence both on and off the pitch, that is exactly what Andoni Iraola’s side are beginning to look like.
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“I feel [the togetherness] and I’m very happy to feel it,” the Liverpool boss said in his post-match news conference. “It is very important. We need to feel what we are feeling now. The players are feeling the support from those in the stands and when we are all together, we create an atmosphere.
“Even when we were losing, there was a feeling of: ‘Let’s go. Come on.’
“A lot of the players have given us very good help. This was the third game at home that we finish with a good feeling. We have another big one on Sunday so let’s try to finish this four in a row at home in the best way.”
This was the sixth in a punishing sequence of nine games in 29 days for Liverpool and Iraola made seven changes from the side that beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 on Sunday, with star names Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola dropped to the bench.
Chelsea, too, were shorn of a number of first-team stars including Cole Palmer, who was serving a one-match suspension after his red card against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. In the absence of so many game-changers, the first half was largely allowed to drift until Ryan Gravenberch‘s clumsy challenge on Moisés Caicedo earned Chelsea a penalty.
The spot-kick was coolly converted by Rogers, but the visitors’ euphoria was short-lived as, minutes later, Wesley Fofana was penalised for handling the ball inside the box. Gakpo made no mistake from 12 yards out.
It was a livelier second half, with Mike Penders making good saves to deny Ronald Araujo and substitute Barcola, while Mamardashvili did brilliantly to divert Marco Palestra‘s powerful drive past the post. But, in the absence of consistent quality, the Liverpool supporters made a point of appreciating the little things.
There was applause when Lewis Koumas, deputising for Isak, sprinted 40 yards to recover the ball from Malo Gusto. There were cheers when fan-favourite Araujo made a crucial interception in his own penalty area and, when Rio Ngumoha wrongfooted the Chelsea defenders to win a succession of free kicks against his former club, chants of “Rio” rained down from the stands.
When the impressive Trey Nyoni made way for Alexis Mac Allister late in the second half, he did so to a standing ovation, having carried himself with a maturity that belied his 19 years. With this the third of a four-game sequence at Anfield, the synergy between players and crowd is steadily beginning to grow stronger.
That sentiment was reinforced further in the shootout, when the Kop made a point of serenading each Liverpool player as they stepped up to the spot. When Kostas Tsimikas blazed his effort over the bar, his teammates were quick to rally around him, and they did the same when Gravenberch saw his strike saved by Penders.
When Mamardashvili got down low to deny Chelsea debutant Emmanuel Emegha, the cluster of Liverpool players watching anxiously from the halfway line punched the air in jubilation. And when Joe Gomez — who has not scored for Liverpool in 279 appearances and had never before taken a competitive penalty — arrowed his spot-kick into the top corner, the Kop erupted in celebration.
Perhaps, amid all the chaos, it was little wonder that Fofana blazed his penalty over the bar to send Liverpool through to a meeting with AFC Bournemouth in the last eight.
“It means everything to play for this club and we know every game, especially here, is massive for us and we want to do our best to represent the shirt,” Gomez told ITV after the game. “I think we did that tonight.
“Obviously it’s a new management team and we want to show that fight, show that grit. It’s mentality and I think that’s what we’re known for and we’re always trying to uphold that standard, and I think we did that tonight. It was important that the lads kept on fighting, kept going until the end and we did that.”
Certainly, Liverpool’s grit and tenacity has played a key part in their quiet resurgence under Iraola. This is a team still very much in its infancy with everything still to prove but the early signs are encouraging.
A huge challenge against Premier League champions Arsenal awaits on Sunday. It will be arguably the sternest test Liverpool have faced yet under their new head coach but, while Iraola’s side are far from the finished product, they are showing they at least have stomach for the fight.
