Liverpool reached the League Cup final on penalties after a gripping last-four second leg tie at Anfield ended 1-0 to the visitors after extra-time and 1-1 on aggregate last night.

Stoke, who bossed vast swathes of the encounter at Anfield, took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Marko Arnautovic swept the ball home from an offside position but the assistant’s flag stayed down and the goal was allowed to stand.

After neither side could add to the scoring for the remainder of the encounter, the clash went to penalties and Joe Allen scored the decisive sudden death kick to give Liverpool a 6-5 win in the shoot-out.

There was some irony the decisive moment was produced by one of the smallest players on the pitch in a match which manager Jurgen Klopp had predicted just before kick-off would be “a heading festival”.

The ball certainly saw some air time but four shots on target in 120 minutes underlined the lack of quality in the game.

Liverpool will face either Everton or Manchester City in the final on February 28, with Roberto Martinez’s side holding a 2-1 lead heading into tonight’s second leg.

Playing today: 20.45 Man. City vs Everton.