year trophy drought ended Sunday by winning the League Cup final after beating Cardiff 3-2 in a penalty shootout when captain Steven Gerrard's cousin, Anthony Gerrard, missed the final spot kick. Liverpool's record eighth League Cup is Kenny Dalglish's first trophy since returning to Liverpool 13 months ago after a 20-year absence and completes his collection of domestic honors as a manager. The match at Wembley Stadium finished at 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra time, with Cardiff defender Ben Turner scrambling the ball over the line in the 118th minute from a corner to ensure the match would be settled with spot kicks. Liverpool had to fight back after Joe Mason gave second-tier club Cardiff a shock lead in the 19th minute, with Martin Skrtel making it 1-1 on the hour and forcing the game into extra time. Liverpool took until the 108th minute to hit the front, with Dirk Kuyt smashing in the rebound after his initial effort was blocked by Anthony Gerrard. Despite Kuyt making an initial goal-line clearance from Filip Kiss, the Netherlands international couldn't prevent Turner from leveling. “This is what I came to Liverpool for, and to win a first trophy is excellent. Hopefully we can add another later in the season,” Kuyt said, referring to the FA Cup. While Dalglish won the competition four times as a player, this was his first triumph as manager, joining Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho as the only winners of English football's three domestic prizes. Cardiff has visited Wembley four times in the past five seasons, but the venue has been demolished and rebuilt in the 16 years it has taken for Liverpool to return to England's national stadium, an eternity for a club that dominated English football throughout the 1980s. Atalanta stuns Roma In Milan, German Denis scored a hat trick as struggling Atalanta stunned nine-man Roma 4-1 in the Serie A Sunday. Guido Marilungo put Atalanta ahead in the 10th minute before Denis scored his first goal in the 19th. Roma gave itself hope when Fabio Borini pulled one back shortly afterwards. However, Denis struck again two minutes after the interval and Pablo Osvaldo was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident. Denis grabbed his third in the 66th as the Argentine took his season tally to 15. Roma had another man sent off eight minutes from time when Marco Cassetti saw red for dissent. Roma remains fifth, ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures, while Atalanta is still seven points off the relegation zone after Lecce beat 10-man Cagliari 2-1. Siena also won, routing Palermo 4-1. On Saturday, Alessandro Matri's late goal prevented Juventus from slipping to its first defeat of the season as it snatched a 1-1 draw at Serie A leader AC Milan in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash. Earlier, Rodrigo Palacio leveled deep into stoppage time to snatch Genoa a 2-2 draw against Parma, and snap its three-game losing streak.
