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LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal beat Liverpool 5-4 on penalties to advance to the League Cup quarter-finals on Thursday after 90 minutes without goals.
With the Premier League champions making several changes to the team that beat Arsenal in the league 3-1 on Monday and their opponents also rotating, it was always unlikely that it was a high-class match.
Liverpool had the best chances and should have received a penalty in the 44th minute when Diogo Jota was brought down in the area.
The resulting free kick ultimately led Takumi Minimino to find space and crash his close-range shot off the crossbar.
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno made two consecutive saves to stop Jota and Marko Grujic and the visitors responded with a chance of their own when Adrian finished off with a header from Rob Holding in the 70th minute.
The Gunners also called for an injury time penalty when James Milner fell and touched the ball.
Referee Kevin Friend did not point out the venue and there is no VAR in the competition.
Arsenal, however, celebrated on penalties when Joe Willock’s kick from the spot slipped under goalkeeper Adrian to send them off.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
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