Cardiff 2 Liverpool 2(after extra-time, Liverpool win 3-2 on penalties): Liverpool's six-year wait for a trophy was ended by a Gerrard but it was Cardiff's Anthony, cousin of Reds captain Steven, who had the decisive involvement. The 26-year-old, on as a substitute in extra time, missed the penalty in a shoot-out which gave the Merseysiders' a record eighth League Cup.
It was cruel not only on the defender — who was consoled by his cousin at the end — but the rest of his team who had seen their early lead overtaken but remained resilient and found the strength to snatch an equaliser with two minutes of an absorbing final remaining.
Joe Mason had given the Bluebirds a first-half lead but goals from Martin Skrtel and, in extra time, Dirk Kuyt had put Kenny Dalglish’s side within touching distance of the trophy before Ben Turner pegged them back. So it went to spot-kicks, where Liverpool had lost only two in 12 previously, and although the early efforts were poor, Glen Johnson scored the fifth and Gerrard missed.
Their first visit to Wembley in 16 years was eventually worth the wait and the hope at Anfield, and among fans, will be that this cup will be the start of another era filled with silverware. Over the last 40 years the Reds have won a trophy early in the decade and gone on to add to it.
In Dalglish they certainly have someone who knows plenty about accumulating cups of every kind and this victory put him alongside Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho as the only managers to win all three major domestic competitions. They also equalled Manchester United’s record of 15 domestic cup wins.
Liverpool captain Gerrard admitted to feeling mixed emotions after cousin Anthony’s miss: “It’s always cruel when it comes to penalties, but there has to be a loser. It was always going to be that one of us was sad and one celebrating. I’ve got mixed emotions. Obviously I’m delighted to win the cup for our supporters, but I feel for Anthony and Cardiff.
“It doesn’t matter what I say to him — he’s going to be down. I’ll be there for him and all the family will be behind him.”
Substitute Kuyt thought he had won it in the 108th minute when he put the Merseysiders 2-1 up, but Ben Turner forced penalties with just two minutes remaining.
“It was incredible, an incredible day,” the Dutchman said. “I was very disappointed not to play longer than 15 minutes but I have to put that aside. I’m so happy to have scored the goal.
“The most important thing was we kept believing and in the end I think we deserved this trophy.”
Mason earlier opened the scoring for the Bluebirds in the first half only for Skrtel to equalise on the hour mark. Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam missed in the shootout for Liverpool, Kenny Miller, Rudy Gestede and Anthony Gerrard for Cardiff.
Kuyt, who was one of Liverpool’s three players on target from the spot, continued: “We keep believing. I said to Steven, there’s a few more to take and others can miss and they did. I knew I had to score my penalty or else it was all over and that’s what I did.
“I have lots of respect
for the manager, the team, the supporters. They deserved more but we wanted this trophy so desperately.”
It was a first medal in six years with the club for Kuyt, who has now set his sights on a double with Liverpool still involved in the FA Cup. “This is why I came to Anfield,” he added. “To finally get my first medal at Wembley is great. Hopefully we can get one more later in the season.”
