By Reuters
Holders Liverpool punched their return ticket to Wembley and a League Cup final against Newcastle United after a 4-0 rout, and 4-1 aggregate victory, over a toothless Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Thursday.
The runaway favourites took the lead, to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit against the injury-depleted visitors, when Cody Gakpo fired in a right-foot shot in the 34th minute from a Mohamed Salah cross.
Salah added his name to the scoresheet, shooting high into the net from the penalty spot in the 51st minute after Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky downed Darwin Nunez, Dominik Szoboszlai slotted home the third and Virgil van Dijk completed the rout with a header.
Newcastle saw off Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal 2-0, and 4-0 on aggregate, on Wednesday to secure their second final in three years on March 16.
“I think the stadium helped a lot. We knew we had to come back,” Gakpo told Sky Sports.
“We went out there and tried to bring as much chances as possible. With the quality we have, we know we are going to get chances. It was a great win.”
The final will be Liverpool’s 15th in the League Cup but a first in English football for Liverpool’s Dutch manager Arne Slot, who replaced Juergen Klopp at the end of last season.
It also kept record 10-times League Cup winners Liverpool on course for a four-trophy haul this season.
They are six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, with a game in hand, led the table into the last 16 of the Champions League and are still in the FA Cup.
Defeat was a bitter pill for Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who has highlighted his record of winning something in his second season at a club but now has only the Europa Leagueand FA Cup to aim for.
Striker Richarlison added to his injury concerns when he went off injured in first-half stoppage time, handing a club debut to new signing Mathys Tel.
TOUGH BAPTISM
That proved a baptism of fire for the Bayern Munich loanee, with Tottenham failing to muster a single shot on target.
“A tough night. Credit to Liverpool, they were way too good for us tonight. We never really got to grips with the game, with or without the ball, just allowed them to get control pretty early,” Postecoglou told ITV television.
“We never really played to our ability and our strengths today. We just sort of shied away from the challenge a little bit,” he added.
“We didn’t start the game well, we were way too passive and allowed Liverpool to get into a rhythm. And when they do that, especially here at home, they are hard to stop.”
Tottenham would have struggled even with a full roster of players against a side whose strength in depth was highlighted by the quality of Alexis Mac Allister and Diogo Jota coming off the bench in the second half.
The scoreline even flattered Tottenham, with a Gakpo shot deflected onto the upright by Kinsky and Ryan Gravenberch hitting the post in the second half.
Tottenham have not won any silverware since they beat Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final.
They had beaten Liverpool only once in their 27 previous games at Anfield since 1999.
