Keeper Simon Mignolet proved the shootout hero as Liverpool reached the League Cup final on penalties after a gripping last-four second leg tie at Anfield ended 1-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Mignolet saved twice in the shootout, including a brilliant stop to deny Marc Muniesa in sudden death, which allowed Joe Allen to stroke home the decisive spotkick and send Liverpool to Wembley.
It was a fortunate end to an uncomfortable evening for the hosts, who were under pressure for much of the encounter which ended 1-0 to Stoke City after extra time.
Stoke took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Marko Arnautovic swept the ball home from an offside position but the assistant`s flag stayed down and the goal was allowed to stand.
Liverpool struggled to breakdown a resolute Stoke defence and after neither side could add to the scoring for the remainder of the match, it went to penalties and Allen`s effort gave the hosts a 6-5 win in the shootout.
It was a thrilling end for Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp who could not bear to watch as Allen`s final penalty hit the net.
“It was great, the atmosphere was special,” the German told Sky Sports. “It was a good game for my side against a difficult side to play…
“Wembley is a cool place to play football, but we go there to win. It`s not much fun to lose.”
Liverpool will face either Everton or Manchester City in the final on February 28, with Roberto Martinez`s side holding a 2-1 lead heading into Wednesday`s second leg.
For Stoke manager Mark Hughes, there was little consolation to be had other than his side`s positive performance.
“I thought we merited a win,” he said. “We got a win on paper — goodness knows how long it`s been since we won here — but the objective was to get to a Wembley final which we didn`t.”
