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Liverpool defeated Chelsea on penalties to book their place in the 2026-27 League Cup quarter-finals after Emmanuel Emegha and Wesley Fofana missed their spot-kicks.
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Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso praised his players for showing courage and improvement against Liverpool.
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Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola praised his young players for their performances after making seven changes to his starting team.
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Chelsea supporters criticised Wesley Fofana on social media after his handball led to Cody Gakpo’s penalty in regular time before he missed his spot-kick in the shootout, with some fans calling for him to be dropped or sold.
October 29, (THEWILL) – Reactions have continued to trail Chelsea’s penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday to crash out of the 2026-27 Carabao Cup.
The Blues suffered another defeat following the 2-0 loss to Tottenham on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.
Emmanuel Emegha and Wesley Fofana missed from the penalty spot to send Liverpool through to the League Cup quarter-finals.
While reacting to the defeat, Chelsea coach, Xabi Alonso praised the players for playing with courage.
He said: “For sure, the outcome is not what we wanted. It’s not what we expected before the game. Once you reach penalties, there’s going to be a sad side.
“It is us in this case, but I have to say that during the game we played at a very good competitive level, it was a good performance. We showed an improvement, I would say. That’s what we wanted.
“We played with courage. The game was really close; it could have gone either way. There were not many chances for both sides and we have tried to overcome difficult moments as well, like Max’s [Lacroix] injury.
“It’s a small setback but we need to move on. As soon as we leave Anfield, our focus is Saturday’s Premier League game.”
The Spanish manager also encouraged debutant Emmanuel Emegha not to dwell on his penalty miss against Liverpool.
Alonso added: “It’s hard to make your debut with that moment that could mean everything for him, for us.
“But it is about learning from all the experiences, even like today when it was a sad one. And I said it myself, as soon as we get on the bus, I move on, I think about United.”
On the other hand, Liverpool coach, Andoni Iraola, was full of praises for the club’s young players after he made seven changes to the team that defeated Brighton.
He said: “I think they did a good job. I think they deserved the right to play because they were also very good against Spurs in the last round.
“We told them, they are first-team players and we are confident if they have to play. They showed us they had a very good level and they helped us a lot.
“I think it was quite a level game. Very competitive, not a lot of chances for both teams. There were moments for us, moments for them.
“We are really happy with the performances of a lot of the players and obviously happy to finish on the right end of the penalty shoot-out because it gave us the chance to be in the draw.”
Iraola also hailed goalkeeper Giorgio Mamardashvili for his heroics between the sticks.
He added: “It’s not like the game is finished. You have to keep the concentration level, you have to focus on the things you have to control. I think Giorgi was close to stopping a lot of the shots. He did a very good job.
“It’s three in a row at home which is very important. We were struggling a little bit at home. Now we have the confidence of winning three in a row and now we have the biggest one against Arsenal on Sunday.”
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The fans were not left out as Chelsea supporters took to social media to criticise Wesley Fofana, who had a nightmare game.
He was at fault for the penalty that Cody Gakpo scored in the the regular time and he blazed his effort over the bar in the shootout.
Undefeated Ayo slammed Fofana’s performance in the encounter.
He wrote on X: “When we say Fofana is our worst defender y’all think we hate him, even a 4 year old kid won’t make this kind of mistake. What was his hand doing up in the air in the box as a defender. Wasted player, wasted money, wasted man.”
Miki Djan urged Alonso to keep Fofana on the bench for the foreseeable future.
He wrote: “Fofana will be on the bench for a long time. Honestly i think we should be preparing to sell him in the summer. There was absolutely no reason for that handball to happen.”
Conn CFC expressed frustration after another individual mistake from Fofana.
He wrote: “I’m so annoyed. We defended really well that half, Liverpool didn’t even have a good chance on goal and Fofana goes and does that.
“We take the lead at Anfield just to throw it away a few minutes later. So tired of these individual errors.”
Tommy wrote: “With certain individuals, errors are inevitable. Fofana should have been banished from SW6 years ago and countless times since. Winstanley is to blame for us being stuck relying on him. Unfair on the coach and unfair on the fans.”
Kinyua Robert wrote: “We will never be a serious club unless we stop signing useless players. For example, what is the importance of Emegha in the team?
“He cannot even score a decisive penalty kick. It’s so sad that every time we face Liverpool, they knock us out on penalties.”
Chelsea will return to Premier League action on Saturday when they take on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, while Liverpool will face Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday.
