Van Dijk had seen a header contentiously ruled out for offside on the hour but there was no pardon for Chelsea when he glanced home another from Kostas Tsimikas' corner in the one hundred and eighteenth minute.

Liverpool's 10th triumph in the competition was achieved without a host of injured star names, including forward trio Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, also losing Ryan Gravenberch when he was taken off on a stretcher after Moises Caicedo's first-half challenge.

It means Jurgen Klopp's side have achieved the first part of a potential quadruple in the manager's farewell season, but it was a bitter blow to Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino.

They have now lost six successive Wembley finals, including three against Liverpool, and wasted a host of opportunities.