Van Dijk's message to Liverpool penalty hero Kelleher after Leicester win

Virgil van Dijk has paid tribute to Caoimhin Kelleher after the goalkeeper saved two penalties to send Liverpool through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Liverpool overhauled Leicester City's two-goal lead to draw 3-3 and send the quarter-final at Anfield into a shoot-out.

Two goals from Jamie Vardy and one from James Maddison sent Leicester into the break with the score at 3-1 after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's effort.

Diogo Jota came off the bench to continue his fine form with another goal and Takumi Minamino then scored in the 95th minute to force penalties.

Minamino was the only Reds player to miss from 12 yards, with Jota keeping his cool to win it in sudden death.

But it was the saves from Kelleher which made all the difference and earned Jurgen Klopp's side a semi-final against Arsenal next month.

The 23-year-old keeper kept out efforts from Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand to confirm his status as a Carabao Cup shoot-out specialist.

Van Dijk was not part of the team on Wednesday night, but he still took to Twitter to praise Kelleher, drawing a comparison with the Irishman's efforts in a similar match two years ago.

Back in October 2019, Kelleher saved Dani Ceballos' penalty to ensure Liverpool beat Arsenal to reach the quarter-finals after a rollercoaster 5-5 draw at Anfield, which included a 94th-minute equaliser from Divok Origi.

Quote-tweeting his own response from that night, which simply read "man like" alongside a picture of Kelleher, Van Dijk added: "Say no more. Well done boys!! Semi Final next."

He wasn't the only absent Liverpool player to post their thoughts after the match, either.

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Andy Robertson simply tweeted "this team" with a heart-eyes emoji, while Thiago added "what a night" alongside some clapping emojis.

Kelleher does not get many chances to impress, with Alisson the undisputed number one goalkeeper at Liverpool, but he is beginning to make a name for himself in penalty shoot-outs.

"I enjoy the moment, it's a nice moment," he told the club website of his approach to them.

"There's not much pressure on you, if you don't save it [then] it is what it is, but I always relish it and enjoy the chance to try to make a save."

He became the fifth goalkeeper to win two penalty shootouts with Liverpool, following in the footsteps of Bruce Grobbelaar, Jerzy Dudek, Pepe Reina and Simon Mignolet.

But he was quick to deflect the praise towards the analysis done by goalkeeping coach John Achterberg and his assistant Jack Robinson.

"Honestly, I put it all down to them because they do so much research and so much analysis into penalties and stuff," he said. "Honestly, it's all down to the coaches, John and Jack."

Klopp made 10 changes for the match and the team will now prepare to face Leeds United in the Premier League on Boxing Day.