Liverpool have booked their place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup courtesy of a penalty shootout victory over Arsenal following a remarkable 5-5 draw inside the 90 minutes at Anfield this evening.
Jurgen Klopp's side had not lost on home soil for 27 games and 13 months ahead of the match, but that record looked in serious jeopardy despite Shkodran Mustafi's comical own goal giving them a perfect start after only six minutes.
That would prove to be only the beginning of the drama in a topsy-turvy, madcap and frenetic EFL Cup classic, and Arsenal were 3-1 up half an hour later courtesy of Lucas Torreira's controversial equaliser and a brace from Gabriel Martinelli.
James Milner's penalty reduced the deficit back to one before half time, but it was an error from Liverpool's captain for the night which allowed the Gunners to restore their two-goal cushion when Ainsley Maitland-Niles pounced to score.
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Liverpool refused to lie down as stunning strikes from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Divock Origi lit up an otherwise error-strewn performance to restore parity, only for Joe Willock to then throw his name in the hat for goal of the game with a long-range screamer of his own.
The hosts were given five minutes of stoppage time to rescue a penalty shootout, and Origi once again stepped up with an acrobatic finish in the 94th minute to make it 5-5 - a 10-goal tally which did a relentlessly action-packed match justice.
Indeed, the 90 minutes were even higher scoring than the shootout itself, with Dani Ceballos seeing his spot kick saved and Curtis Jones then scoring the winning penalty in front of the Kop end on his senior home debut for his boyhood club.
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Both managers made the full 11 changes to their starting lineups, including a rare Arsenal appearance for Mesut Ozil, who had not featured at all since the previous round but produced a performance which may see him called upon more often going forward.
As expected, there were a number of young players included in both teams, and it was the youngest on the pitch who had the first sight of goal when 16-year-old Harvey Elliott curled an effort high and wide when looking for the top corner.
It was one of the most experienced players who made a critical error for the opening goal, though, as Mustafi put the ball past his own keeper in calamitous fashion, attempting to cut out Oxlade-Chamberlain's low cross into the box but only succeeding in clipping it against his own leg and in.
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Mustafi immediately offered a hand of apology for the type of howler which has become something of a trademark for him in recent years, and the defence was once again found wanting shortly afterwards when Adam Lallana scooped a pass into the box for Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose poor touch denied him a golden opportunity.
It took until the 19th minute for Arsenal to seriously threaten Liverpool's goal, and that produced their equaliser as the Gunners benefited from some disorganised defending as well as the lack of VAR in the EFL Cup.
A prolonged spell of possession in and around the Liverpool box eventually ended with Bukayo Saka's shot being saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, but he could only parry the ball out into a dangerous area where Torreira was waiting to tuck the rebound home. Replays showed that he had done so from an offside position, but the linesman's flag stayed down and the goal stood.
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It was another rebound which saw Arsenal take the lead in the 26th minute as Kelleher again pushed the ball back into the danger zone - this time after a deflection from Sepp van den Berg - and Martinelli was the man on hand to lash the follow-up strike into the roof of the net.
Liverpool's first shot on target did not arrive until the half-hour mark when Rhian Brewster's header was comfortably saved, but by then it was Arsenal who were beginning to look most like scoring and sure enough their third arrived nine minutes before half time.
Mistakes leading to goals was a theme of the first half, and that was the case again when Elliott gifted possession to Ozil, who combined with Saka to tee up an unmarked Martinelli for his second of the night - repeating his brace from the previous round.
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The Brazilian is now the highest-scoring teenager in the top five European leagues with seven goals in as many games, but he went from hero to villain within six minutes when he gave away a penalty at the other end just before half time.
Martinelli was adjudged to have caught Elliott when making a wild swipe at the ball inside the area, and Milner made no mistake from the spot by sending the keeper the wrong way - something he would do again in the shootout.
There was still time for both sides to create another clear chance apiece before half time, though, as first Martinelli squandered his opportunity for a hat-trick by miscuing a header and then Divock Origi sent a header of his own off target moments later when he should have done better.
Any expectations that the second half would be a quieter affair were quickly dashed when Brewster got the better of Mustafi before dragging an effort wide within a minute of the restart, and Saka then fired a long-range effort off target shortly afterwards.
For all of the inexperience on the field, one of biggest mistakes of the night came from arguably the least likely suspect as Milner sold Kelleher short with a back pass, allowing Maitland-Niles to steal in and beat the keeper to the ball. It took a timely and skillful flick from Ozil to keep it in play and send it back to Maitland-Niles, who was left with an easy finish to restore Arsenal's two-goal advantage nine minutes into the second half.
It lasted just four minutes on this occasion, though, as Oxlade-Chamberlain fired Liverpool back into the game in style against his former club, stealing the ball 25 yards from goal before unleashing a dipping half-volley which crashed into the back of the net.
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The goals showed no sign of drying up, and sure enough Liverpool made it 4-4 just four minutes after that when Origi collected a pass from Jones before working a yard to shoot and blasting his finish past Emiliano Martinez, who got a touch but was beaten by the power of the strike.
Liverpool's equaliser threatened to take the wind out of Arsenal's sails, but within five minutes they created another glorious opportunity as Martinelli once again missed out on his hat-trick by blazing a first-time strike well over the crossbar when unmarked and only seven yards out.
It looked as though the miss would not prove costly when Willock produced an effort to rival Oxlade-Chamberlain's, driving through midfield before picking out the top corner with a stunning 25-yard strike which left Kelleher helpless.
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Considering the way the match had gone up to that point, most would have been expecting at least one more twist, but Arsenal did a good job of taking the sting out of the game for the closing 20 minutes, with a miscued Brewster header all Liverpool could create before stoppage time.
A twist did eventually arrive in the 94th minute, though, with Liverpool debutant Neco Williams delivering the cross for Origi, who fired home an acrobatic volley with his back to goal to send the game to penalties.
The first six players all scored in the shootout before Ceballos saw his spot kick saved by Kelleher, setting up Jones for his dream moment in front of the Kop as his penalty sent eight-time winners Liverpool into the EFL Cup quarter-finals at the end of a bonkers contest which will join the growing list of instant cup classics between these two clubs.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Kelleher; Williams, Gomez, Van den Berg, Milner; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Chirivella 81'), Lallana, Keita (Jones 55'); Elliott, Brewster, Origi
ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): Martinez; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac (Tierney 83'); Maitland-Niles, Torreira (Ceballos 72'), Willock, Saka; Ozil (Guendouzi 65'); Martinelli
Barney Corkhill
