Adrian the Hero as Liverpool wins UEFA Super Cup

Liverpool sealed a 5-4 penalty-shootout victory over Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night, as Adrian saved the decisive spot-kick on his first start.

Chelsea came into Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup looking to make amends for their 4-0 defeat away to Manchester United at the weekend and they did themselves proud as Frank Lampard’s side took Liverpool to a penalty shootout, but it was Adrian San Miguel who ended the match as the hero as his save ensured that the Reds emerged as the victors.

The Spaniard was making his first start for Liverpool, having only signed a few weeks ago, and he played well throughout the game, but it is his save from Tammy Abraham that will be remembered by the Reds’ supporters. Liverpool had already been to a penalty shootout this season, although they lost the first time against Manchester City in the Community Shield, so they will be delighted to have put that omen to bed.

Both sides seemed to be easing their way into the match in the early stages, with little separating them. The first clear chance of the match fell the way of Mohamed Salah in the 16th minute. Under plenty of pressure from the Chelsea midfielders, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played a lovely ball into the right channel for the Egyptian, which set the Egyptian away one-on-one with Kepa, but his shot with the outside of his foot was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga. Minutes later, Chelsea went up the other end and after being put through by Pedro Rodriguez, Olivier Giroud’s left-footed strike went wide of Adrian’s goal.

What was clear from the first half is that Chelsea, who had more experience in their starting line-up than the XI that faced United, had reacted after their defeat at Old Trafford. They looked confident and were willing to seize the occasion.

Pedro was causing all sorts of problems for the Liverpool defence and he almost opened the scoring halfway through the first half. The former Barcelona winger played a one-two with Giroud and from the left-and side of the box, he fired a shot at Adrian’s goal which was saved onto the woodwork by the Spaniard.

Nine minutes before the half-time break, Chelsea made it 1-0. N’Golo Kante had been the game’s standout player to that point, breaking things up and making things happen. The Frenchman drove forward, passed to Christian Pulisic and he then picked out Giroud, who excellently hit a first-time shot past Adrian to give Chelsea a well-deserved lead. That was the first competitive goal scored under Lampard and it was noteworthy how it came from a player who did not feature at Old Trafford. Giroud was vital for Chelsea as they won the Europa League last season and he could play a vital role for the west London club during this campaign, too.

A few minutes later, Chelsea made it 2-0 but it was called back for offside. Pulisic came in from the left wing, looking Eden Hazard-esque, and hit a shot into the bottom left corner, but the American was half a yard offside after Emerson Palmieri played the original pass over right-back Joe Gomez. Before hitting the back of the net, Pulisic got away from Gomez and Joel Matip with ease, showing his acceleration, in a glimpse of what he could offer Chelsea moving forward.

Roberto Firmino came on for Liverpool at half-time and he needed just a couple of minutes to make an impact. Fabinho lofted a ball over the Chelsea defence and Firmino was able to use his studs to poke the ball away from Kepa and Cesar Azpilicueta, which gave Sadio Mane an open goal to shoot in to. The Senegal international scuffed his first effort but managed to get it across the line at the second time of asking. In the period that immediately followed the goal, it was clear that Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma were struggling to cope with the movement of Firmino, as well as the inside runs of Salah and Mane.

Just 15 minutes before the final whistle, Kepa made an incredible double save to keep Chelsea in the game. From a corner, Georginio Wijnaldum laid the ball off for Salah who had his left-footed shot saved by the former Athletic Club man, but what was more impressive was the way Kepa reacted to tip Virgil van Dijk’s rebound onto the bar. The young Spaniard was swarmed by his teammates who knew how close they were to falling behind.

Mason Mount scored Chelsea’s third goal of the game in the 83rd minute, but like Pulisic, it was ruled out for offside. Jorginho played a floated pass to the left wing and Mount was there, with the Englishman getting a left-footed shot away which went into the bottom right corner. However, the linesman flagged for offside once he made contact with the ball and the replays showed that he was ahead of the play by a narrow margin.

With the scores level at 1-1, the match went to extra-time. It took Liverpool just five minutes to take the lead for the first time in the match. Sadio Mane won the ball back in an advanced position, passed it to Firmino and the Brazilian forward knew exactly where Mane was going to run as he put the ball on a plate for him to hit a first-time shot which kissed the underside of the crossbar and hit the back of the net.

Just when it seemed as though Liverpool were going to coast to glory, Chelsea were awarded a penalty. Tammy Abraham got to the ball first in the area and under minimal contact, Adrian brought down the striker and the referee did not hesitate in pointing to the spot. Jorginho then stepped up, stuttered in his run-up and slotted it into the bottom corner. The midfielder was the coolest man in the stadium.

Chelsea actually could have gone into the half-time break in extra-time 3-2 ahead, but Abraham was unable to guide his shot goalwards. Pedro, who was excellent on the night, played a perfect cross from the right which went across the six-yard box, and Abraham was able to get ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold but could not get enough contact on the ball to hit the back of the net. Instead, it went wide of the left post.

Frank Lampard’s side worked two good chances in as many minutes halfway through the second half of extra-time, first through Mount and then through Pedro. The midfielder’s effort forced Adrian into a save, while Pedro’s attempt narrowly went wide of the right post. Of the two sides, Chelsea seemed to be growing in confidence as the game started to draw to a close, with Liverpool looking like their intensity earlier in the match had caught up with them. Mount, Pedro and Kante were the real shining lights for the Blues in the closing stages, which will fill Lampard with a lot of confidence.

Although there was a bit of controversy regarding Chelsea’s penalty, the game finished 2-2 after extra-time so it went to a penalty shootout. Both sets of players seemed faultless as they stepped up from 12 yards, with Kepa getting a hand to Divock Origi and Alexander-Arnold’s goals, but it was Abraham who missed the decisive penalty to sent Liverpool into a state of ecstasy. Abraham opted to send his penalty down the middle, but Adrian left his leg out and was able to get a strong enough contact to sent it far away from his goal. Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool players all ran towards Adrian, who was making his Liverpool debut. What a story. A night Adrian will never forget.