Derby County were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage after a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool.
The Rams forced the Premier League side into the lottery of penalties after a 0-0 draw in normal time but eventually ran out on the wrong end of the shoot-out
The atmosphere was raucous to open the game with the 5’600 strong from Derbyshire more than making themselves heard.
The hosts had the better of the opening stages though without creating anything too clear-cut. Calvin Ramsay fired a tame effort wide from the edge of the box before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s dangerous volley just missed the target following Craig Forsyth’s headed clearance.
Eiran Cashin had the first effort of the evening for the Rams when he rose highest to meet a Nathaniel Mendez-Laing cross but he could only head over the bar of Caoimhin Kelleher.
Liverpool continued to boss possession throughout the opening stages but were failing to create anything of any real note much down to the Rams’ resilience.
However, it was two mistakes in quick succession that nearly saw the home side take the lead. First, Cashin’s heavy touch allowed Layton Stewart through on goal but the young forward fired over and then a mix-up allowed an opening for Kostas Tsimikas but the Greek defender volleyed wide.
After the break things were becoming far more open with both sides having big chances to take the lead. First, Max Bird fired agonisingly wide from around 12-yards before Joe Wildsmith was forced into a superb save whilst wrong-footed following a deflected Fabio Carvalho effort.
Jurgen Klopp opted for a triple substitution midway through the second-half bringing on Roberto Firmino, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez in a change which in itself showed the job that the Rams were doing on the Premier League outfit.
Elliott and Firmino were immediately involved and neat interplay between the two saw the former put Oxlade-Chamberlain through on goal but Wildsmith was out to make himself big and brilliantly deny the midfielder.
And it was the Rams shot-stopper again at his brilliant best to deny Elliott what looked a certain goal soon after. Substitute Ben Doak played a dinked ball over the top to the winger who went to prod past Wildsmith but the 26-year-old got down and palmed away with a strong right hand.
Five minutes additional time were signalled and for all Liverpool's possession, the Rams stood tall and forced the game into the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
Liverpool: XOXOO
Derby County: OXXOX
O = Goal
X = Miss
Liverpool: Kelleher (GK), Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tsimikas, Ramsay, Carvalho (74’ Doak), Clark (66’ Elliott), Bajcetic, Phillips, Stewart (66’ Nunez), Frauendorf (66’ Firmino)
Substitutes not used: Adrian (GK), Doak, Cain, Quansam, Chambers, Davies
Derby County: Wildsmith (GK), Forsyth, Hourihane, Cashin, Bird (C) (90' Knight), Collins (61’ McGoldrick), Mendez-Laing (71’ Thompson), Smith (90' Rooney), Roberts, Sibley, Osula (61’ Dobbin)
Substitutes not used: Loach (GK), Stearman, Aghatise, Oduroh
The Rams return to Sky Bet League One action this Saturday when they travel to Milton Keynes to take on MK Dons.
