DIOGO-ING TO WEMBLEY
Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2: Diogo Jota double sets up Carabao Cup final clash with Chelsea as Reds march on to Wembley
IT was supposed to be the greatest comeback since Lazarus but ended up as The Night of the Living Dead.
Now Arsenal can pack the silver polish away for another year after being handed a comprehensive finishing lesson by Diogo Jota.
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Because it is Liverpool who will be heading to Wembley for a Carabao Cup final showdown with Chelsea on February 27.
Mikel Arteta might have pulled off a minor miracle by naming an almost full-strength team just five days after claiming he couldn’t even scrape 11 players together for the North London derby.
But it still wasn’t enough to stop the Merseysiders from completing a routine victory which emphasised the gulf which still exists between these teams.
Two goals from Jota were more than enough to see off the weary Gunners who were clearly still feeling the effects of their recent injury crisis.
And to make matters worse for Arteta, he will now be without both Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey for Sunday’s home game against Burnley.
Xhaka is already suspended for his red card in last week’s semi-final first leg at Anfield.
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Now he will be joined on the naughty step by Partey who was booked twice in the space of three minutes after coming on as a late replacement for Emile Smith Rowe.
It completed a miserable few days for Ghanaian international Partey, who was knocked out of the African Cup of Nations by Comoros and only landed in London seven hours before kick-off.
Last week’s goalless first leg was the first time Liverpool had failed to score at Anfield since last April.
And with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Divock Origi all unavailable for this one, Klopp had to come up with a different way of breaking down a stubborn Arsenal defence.
That meant a run-out for 17-year-old Kaide Gordon in what was certainly the biggest match so far of his fledgling career.
And what a night it was for the England youth international to come of age in front of a sell-out Emirates crowd to test his nerves.
But Klopp’s faith in his young prodigy was unwavering, inspired no doubt by the way fellow youngster Curtis Jones was rising to the occasion.
The youngsters were certainly helped by Arsenal’s determination to keep playing their way out from the back in spite of an alarming tendency to surrender possession on the edge of their own area.
Arteta’s men started positively enough and almost secured a fourth-minute breakthrough when Alexandre Lacazette’s free-kick struck the bar after Bukayo Saka had been brought down on the edge of the area by Andrew Robertson.
But they were unable to maintain their early dominance and gradually ceded ground to a Liverpool team who always looked a threat on the counter.
The visitors thought they were ahead in the 14th minute when Fabinho’s powerful header was turned in by Joel Matip from close range.
But the former Cameroon international had strayed offside before applying the final touch and his effort was rightly ruled out.
It was a warning shot across Arsenal’s bows but one they failed to heed - and five minutes later they really were trailing.
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Fabinho’s clever flick sent Jota on a slaloming run past Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White - and though his low shot lacked power it still had just enough on it to creep into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Aaron Ramsdale.
It was Liverpool’s 44th goal in 17 games against Arsenal under Klopp and one from which the hosts never looked like recovering.
Gabriel Martinelli was halted in his tracks by a perfectly timed Matip challenge as he prepared to pull the trigger.
And when Saka finally managed to work himself into a shooting position, his effort was comfortably blocked by Robertson as another attack fizzled out to nothing.
Lacazette was booked for a clumsy late challenge on the impressive Jones as he dropped deeper and deeper trying to break Liverpool’s stranglehold on proceedings.
And he could have succeeded in that aim shortly after the half-time interval when he was played in by Sambi Lokonga’s ball over the top.
But the Frenchman’s excellent first touch was not matched by the quality of his finish as he smashed over from ten yards.
It was a miss which he should have been made to rue when Jota skinned White again to tee up Gordon right in front of goal.
But the youngster’s inexperience showed as he leant back and lifted a rising shot a good yard over the bar.
Ibrahima Konate, a half-time sub for Matip, struck the base of the post with a firm header from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 59th-minute corner as Liverpool looked to put the tie to bed.
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But they need not have worried as weary Arsenal huffed and puffed without ever troubling keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
And any lingering doubts were laid to rest in the 78th minute when Jota took Alexander-Arnold’s long pass on his chest before lifting his shot past the advancing Ramsdale.
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