While his team-mates were celebrating, Jordan Henderson was busy consoling. The red flares had been lit, Kostas Tsimikas had set off on a lap of honour and Liverpool were headed for their supporters but their captain was nearer the halfway line, bent over a distraught Mason Mount. For the second time this season, a penalty miss decided a cup final between evenly-matched teams and this time Kepa Arrizabalaga had not ballooned a spot kick into orbit.
Rather, Mount had been denied by Alisson, joining Jerzy Dudek and Bruce Grobbelaar among the Liverpool goalkeepers who have secured silverware in shootouts. For Mount, however, this was a horribly familiar feeling. He has lost at Wembley in finals from the Championship play-offs to Euro 2020, via the Carabao Cup and now three FA Cups. He could be forgiven for wishing the 2024 Champions League final were not being staged at England’s national stadium. He is on course for a clean sweep of silver medals from his trips here.
