Liverpool 2-2 (5-4 on pens) Chelsea
Liverpool just love penalty shoot-outs in Istanbul!
Fourteen years after their unforgettable European Cup triumph against AC Milan, the Merseysiders were back in Turkey and winning on spot-kicks again.
The UEFA Super Cup now joins the Champions League in the trophy cabinet at Anfield.
Highlights of the game
It’s been a summer to remember for Liverpool, make no mistake. It’s been a crazy week for Adrian, too. This time nine days ago, the ink was barely dry on his signature to a contract. Now, he won’t forget his full debut in a hurry.
It was he who made the crucial save from young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham to seal a 5-4 shoot-out victory after the sides had drawn 2-2 and become the European champion of champions.
Anyone who thought beforehand that this was a glorified friendly, a picnic by the Bosporus, was proved wrong from the kick-off.
This competition really matters, and there were UEFA Super Cup 2019 highlights to prove it.
Not even the sight of half-and-half Liverpool-Chelsea badges on sale here, let alone the ubiquitous match-day scarves, could mask the reality that there is no love lost between the clubs. This sporting skirmish in Besiktas’s magnificent home mattered.
Chelsea had threatened to upset the SBOBET UEFA Super Cup 2019 betting odds and took the lead nine minutes before the break.
The returning N’Golo Kante – how new manager Frank Lampard needs to keep him fit this season – brushed past Fabinho and Sadio Mane with ease and found new arrival Christian Pulisic.
The American, who impressed on his full competitive debut, poked the ball through perfectly to Olivier Giroud, and the Frenchman slotted it under Adrian’s legs and into the far corner.
If Fabinho and Mane were culpable for Liverpool’s early deficit, they made amends three minutes after the restart.
Fabinho found newly arrived substitute Roberto Firmino, who got to the ball before Kepa Arrizabalaga and flicked to Sadio Mane, who was waiting to pounce.
That set the scene for a second half which Liverpool largely controlled and would have won the match in normal time if not for Kepa’s heroics.
The pick of his saves saw him keep out Mo Salah’s deflected strike. He then somehow tipped the rebound from Virgil van Dijk onto the crossbar.
The match went into extra-time, and Mane added his second with a superb finish after a 1-2 with the increasingly influential Firmino was too slick for the Chelsea rearguard.
The west Londoners weren’t finished, though. After Adrian brought down Abraham, a decision confirmed by VAR and appealed vigorously by Liverpool, Jorginho kept his composure to haul Chelsea level quickly.
Abraham twice went close to winning it for the Londoners, and then saw his spot-kick saved by Adrian after nine successive penalties were converted in the shoot-out.
The reaction from both sets of players and fans – Liverpool officially took nearly 6,000 tickets for this one compared to 1,314 for Chelsea – said it all.
Jurgen Klopp and his players were delighted. Abraham was distraught and needed to be comforted by Lampard.
This game and this trophy do matter.
Liverpool have won the UEFA Super Cup for the fourth time.
Key statistics
Chelsea have now been runners-up in three consecutive UEFA Super Cup appearances (2012, 2013 and 2019) – only Barcelona and Sevilla (four each) have been runners-up on more occasions.
Mané became the first African player to score in the UEFA Super Cup since Frederic Kanoute for Sevilla vs Barcelona in 2006.
Giroud has scored 12 goals in 16 appearances in European competition for Chelsea.
This was the first time in history that a woman had refereed a major European men’s game.
Stephanie Frappart is already accustomed to making history. In April, she became the first woman to take charge of a French domestic men’s Ligue 1 match when she officiated the game between Amiens and Strasbourg. She has been included in the pool of referees for the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season.
Lampard was captain of the Chelsea team beaten by Atlético Madrid in 2012 and Bayern Munich 12 months later in this competition.
This was the 11th meeting between these two clubs in European competition (all since 2005), with the previous 10 all in the Champions League.
Five of those matches were drawn, with Liverpool and Chelsea now recording three wins each. Only one game has been won by a margin of more than one goal.
What’s next?
It’s a trip to the south coast for Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday (August 17). As for Chelsea, they welcome Leicester City to Stamford Bridge a little over 24 hours later.
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