With the first nine penalties all converted, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham saw his effort blocked by the legs of Liverpool keeper Adrian to hand victory to Juergen Klopp’s side.

Chelsea went ahead in the 36th minute when N’Golo Kante drove from midfield and found Christian Pulisic, who turned inside and delivered the perfect through ball for Olivier Giroud to confidently slot home.

American Pulisic then beat Adrian with a fine shot after a swift run down the flank but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Liverpool manager Klopp introduced Brazilian Roberto Firmino at the break and he had an instant impact.

He poked the ball past the advancing Kepa Arrizabalaga and Sadio Mane tapped into the unguarded goal to make it 1-1 in the 49th minute.

Arrizabalaga then produced a superb double save in the 75th minute to deny Mohamed Salah’s deflected low drive.

And the Spanish keeper did superbly to get back up and push Virgil van Dijk’s follow up against the bar.

With the teams level after 90 minutes the game went into extra-time, past midnight local time, and Liverpool struck after just five minutes with Mane driving home after an excellent exchange with Firmino.

But six minutes later, Chelsea were back on level terms with a Jorginho penalty after Abraham was brought down in the box by Liverpool keeper Adrian, setting up the shootout.

The post Liverpool win Super Cup after penalty shootout appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

He said it was the moment to call time on his magnificent career with the London club to seek new challenges.

The Belgian is widely expected to join Real Madrid.

But he capped a superb display against English Premier League rivals Arsenal by converting from the penalty kick spot to make it 3-0 before adding the fourth to complete the rout.

“My dream was to play in the Premier League and I did it for seven years. I think it’s a goodbye,” Hazard said.

Chelsea had broken the deadlock in the 49th minute through former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud and Hazard created the second goal for substitute Pedro.

“It was good. The first half both teams had a bit of stress because it was a final. But when Olly (Giroud) scored it was the beginning of a great night,” Hazard said.

“We played well in the second half. We tried to play our football and we knew we had the players to do that. It is a great trophy to win.”

Hazard, 28, joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012 for 32 million pounds and won the Europa League in his first season.

He later won the Premier League title in 2015 and 2017 as well as one League Cup and one FA Cup.

Real Madrid have not tried to hide their desire to sign the Hazard, with president Florentino Perez admitting this week that he has been chasing his signature for years.

He had added that he expects to land the Belgian’s signature this summer.

The post I think this is a goodbye, Hazard says appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Spaniard Alonso broke the deadlock for the west London side in the 86th minute when he sneaked behind two defenders to connect with Willian’s cross.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri made seven changes to his lineup from the team that beat West Ham United 2-0 in the Premier League on Monday.

Belgian talisman Eden Hazard had to come off the bench for the last half an hour.

Alonso’s goal gave the Blues a vital away goal as they put behind them bitter memories of the stadium where they lost the 2013 Super Cup to Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout.

The post Late Alonso header gives Chelsea win in Prague appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

“Cesc Fabregas has today completed a permanent transfer to Monaco,” Chelsea said on their website, just as Ligue 1 Monaco tweeted a video of Fabregas with a voice-over saying “now it’s time”.

The midfielder’s switch to the Ligue 1 club brings the curtain down on his four-and-a-half- year Chelsea career, a period in which he won four major trophies.

These are two English Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup, during a period when the Spaniard made 198 appearances for Chelsea and scored 22 goals.

“We thank Cesc for his wonderful service and wish him the very best of luck for the next chapter in what has been a fantastic career,’’ Chelsea FC wrote.

Fabregas arrived at Stamford Bridge as a 2012 European Championship and 2010 World Cup winner with Spain.

The midfielder departs England with the second-highest number of assists in Premier League history, 111, after recently making his 350th appearance in the competition during the game against Southampton.

He was also the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League assists, achieving the feat in just 293 matches.

Fabregas signed in the summer of 2014 as Jose Mourinho sought to add a creative presence in midfield.

This was after the departure of club legend Frank Lampard at the end of the previous season.

Fabregas is now joining up with Thierry Henry, a former teammate and current manager of the municipality club, who was the Spaniard’s captain at Arsenal.

He had joined Chelsea from Arsenal, having moved to England from La Masia, FC Barcelona’s youth academy, at age 16 in September 2003.

The post Fabregas leaves Chelsea to join Monaco appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The 23-year-old is expected to sign for the Premier League side on Wednesday, with current goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois poised to move to Real Madrid.

“La Liga has confirmed to us that Kepa Arrizabalaga has fulfilled the requirements for the unilateral termination of his contract with Athletic Club,” said Bilbao in a statement.

“(He has ended) the relationship that linked him to us since the 2004-05 season and the amount of compensation established in the contract has been deposited.”

At 80 million euros, Arrizabalaga will become the most expensive goalkeeper in football history, ahead of Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, who moved from AS Roma for 75 million euros earlier in the transfer window.

After being strongly linked to Real Madrid, Arrizabalaga signed a new deal with Bilbao in January which raised his release fee to 80 million.

Chelsea Coach Maurizio Sarri praised Arrizabalaga on Tuesday night.

“I saw (Kepa) one year ago. My first impression was that he is a very good goalkeeper, very young but very good,” said the Italian.

The post Bilbao’s Kepa pays 80m euro release fee, ahead of record Chelsea move appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The football club did not say if the decision was related to owner Roman Abramovich’s struggles to get a new British visa.

He reportedly took Israeli citizenship earlier this week.

“Chelsea Football Club announces today that it has put its new stadium project on hold. No further pre-construction design and planning work will occur,” Chelsea said in a statement in London.

“The club does not have a time frame set for reconsideration of its decision. The decision was made due to the current unfavourable investment climate.”

The post Chelsea suspends new stadium plans due to unfavourable investment climate appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Huddersfield, who needed a point to be sure of avoiding relegation, took a shock lead in the 50th minute at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

This was after a long ball from Aaron Mooy found Laurent Depoitre who won a challenge with Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero on the edge of the box and put the ball in the empty net.

It was Huddersfield’s first attempt on goal and Chelsea were back level 13 minutes later when a defensive clearance struck Marcos Alonso on the head and rebounded into the net.

Chelsea kept up the pressure as they pushed for a winner and Huddersfield keeper Jonas Lossl turned a header by Andreas Christensen on to the post.

But the visitors held on to secure their Premier League status and Chelsea remained outside the Champions League spots in fifth place with one game left in the season.

The post Chelsea draw with Huddersfield as Champions League hopes fade appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Spurs’ surprise loss at relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion on Saturday opened the door for Chelsea to close the gap on the top four.

It was a good outing for the London side as they capitalised on that lifeline with an assured performance over the UEFA Champions League finalists.

Frenchman Giroud headed what proved to be the winning goal in the 32nd minute, meaning the striker has now scored 17 league goals with his head since the start of 2015-16.

The record is more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

Liverpool pressed but Chelsea held on to move within three points of the visitors who are third.

On Wednesday, Chelsea have a game in hand over the Merseysiders at home to Huddersfield Town as they bid to set up a thrilling final day next Sunday.

The post Chelsea close in on top four with win over Liverpool appeared first on NEWSVERGE.