Liverpool vs. Manchester City: Capital One Cup Final 2016 Score and Reaction

Manchester City reclaimed the Capital One Cup trophy on Sunday after defeating Liverpool 3-1 on penalties at Wembley, where goals from Fernandinho and Philippe Coutinho saw the two sides draw 1-1 after 120 minutes.  

Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet recovered from a first-half howler to put on a dazzling display, but City's stand-in stopper Willy Caballero was the man of the moment after saving three Liverpool penalties to seal the League Cup triumph.

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Injuries to Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren meant Lucas Leiva was deputised alongside Mamadou Sakho at centre-back for Liverpool, but an early injury to the Frenchman hurt the Merseysiders' chances of lifting the title.

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan claimed this was the glorious moment former Malaga man Caballero deserved:

Citizens frontman Sergio Aguero was busy from the offset, and former Red Raheem Sterling also looked to damage his former side as chants rang around Wembley reminding the England winger of last summer's betrayal.

Mignolet's right post saved Liverpool's blushes in the 23rd minute, when Aguero beat the Reds' offside trap before bamboozling Sakho and wrapping his curled effort off the woodwork, per Sky Sports Football:

Sakho looked dazed following an earlier clash of heads with team-mate Emre Can, and manager Jurgen Klopp chose to withdraw his man rather than risk exposing his back line being, with Kolo Toure taking Sakho's place.

The defender cast a distraught figure after taking his seat on the Liverpool bench, and LFC Fans Corner posted images of Sakho after he was brought to tears, prevented from having a proper impact on the final:

The two teams went in level at the break, but it was undoubtedly manager Manuel Pellegrini's side who had the more imposing presence on Mignolet's net, with the likes of David Silva and and Yaya Toure impressing.

Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino led the Merseysiders in attack, but they failed to rattle City stopper Caballero at all in the opening 45 minutes, per Sky Sports Statto:

The trio of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Can helped Liverpool even take a majority of possession, but there was little penetration to speak of from Klopp's underdogs.

Aguero helped compound that fault four minutes after the restart, and the Argentinian rolled an onrushing Fernandinho into space down the right side of Liverpool's area before the Brazilian lashed in at Mignolet's near post:

Mignolet committed a cardinal sin by allowing the Citizens enforcer to power his shot under him from such an acute angle, and Bet365 reminded Liverpool that it wasn't long ago their calamitous No. 1 was handed a new deal:

City's onslaught only gathered in momentum, and Pellegrini's players were brimming with confidence following the breakthrough, with Silva in particular starting to exercise his influence on the tempo.

Klopp rolled the dice and threw Adam Lallana on in favour of left-back Alberto Moreno, hoping the added midfield strength would give Sturridge the ammunition he needed for a grandstand finish.

Sterling had the opportunity to seal the ultimate revenge against his old club following some superb build-up play down the right flank from Aguero, leaving makeshift left-back Milner in his dust. But Sterling couldn't connect properly with his striker's cut-back, dragging the 80th-minute effort wide of Mignolet's goal.

He would come to regret that miss, too, as Lallana rattled the post on the end of a Sturridge cross, only for a lurking Coutinho to drill past Caballero and pull Liverpool level with seven minutes of normal time remaining:

Mignolet recovered well from his earlier howler and made a pair of brilliant saves from Fernando and Toure in the dying phases to keep his team in contention before referee Michael Oliver signalled for extra time.

The Belgian proved his first-half error was well and truly behind him when he denied Aguero the best chance to emerge in the first half of extra time. The Liverpool Echo's Kristian Walsh and ex-Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison were both impressed by the stopper's revival:

A mad scramble almost saw substitute Divock Origi—on for Firmino—nod Liverpool into the lead, but Caballero pulled off a dazzling save after Milner took up his spot as the Reds' primary puppeteer down the left.

The power scale tipped in favour of Liverpool, who looked the more threatening outfit in the second period of extra time, although Milner almost became the villain when a weak header back to Mignolet nearly gifted Aguero the winner.

Lallana and Toure were embroiled in a stern exchange when the Liverpool man lunged in late on Wilfried Bony; each picked up a yellow card after the City man physically hauled Lallana off his feet to calm him down. City ended extra time on top, but the two English giants prepared for a decisive penalty shootout.

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Can clipped a cheeky effort in first for Liverpool, but Fernandinho couldn't follow up his first-half strike and left City trailing after hitting the post. Fortunately for him, Caballero stopped Leiva's effort in highlight-reel fashion to even the odds.

Extra-time substitute Jesus Navas fired City level before Coutinho failed with his stuttered run, giving Caballero enough time to guess correctly and put the Citizens in the lead. Next up, Aguero could hardly have been more accurate as he gave his side the lead for the first time at 2-1 ahead on spot kicks.

Caballero entered his name into the City history books by denying a third Liverpool penalty from Lallana, and Toure followed up with the decisive strike to win the shootout 3-1.

Post-Match Reaction

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Pellegrini came under fire after opting to start Caballero in place of regular No. 1 Joe Hart, but his decision paid dividends in the end, and a second League Cup in the space of three years was his reward.

The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe provided quotes from the Chilean in his post-match press conference, and he felt his choice was vindicated by Caballero's performance:

"

We missed too many goals during the game, we played better than Liverpool. I prefer to win this game this way - I prefer to lose a title than lose my word. A lot of media were waiting for me to wait a mistake, so I am very happy to win a title most of all for Willy.

[...]

I don't remember in the 90 minutes not one save from Willy but I think we finished playing better in the extra time. It's a very important moment because we play very well and finally to win a title at Wembley is always very special.

"

Per John Bennett of the BBC, Pellegrini went on to say that morals can sometimes be more important than silverware:

Despite the loss, Klopp said his Liverpool team will be back in the hunt for trophies before long, according to Liverpool reporter Andy Kelly:

Just four months after taking charge at Anfield, Klopp has already experienced his first final in English football, but one has to feel the German will be guiding the Reds to more title challenges in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Pellegrini is guaranteed to sign off on his Manchester City career with at least one trophy to his name, and the question now is whether the Citizens can give their departing boss more glory this season.