Kepa the hero as Chelsea edge out Villarreal to win Super Cup
Kepa Arrizabalaga was the unlikely hero as Chelsea started the new season as they ended the last with a European trophy by beating Villarreal 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to win the UEFA Super Cup in Belfast.
The Spaniard, who has lost his place as number one since joining the club for a world record fee for a goalkeeper in 2018, was introduced late in extra-time as a substitute for the shootout and saved from Aissa Mandi and Raul Albiol.
Thomas Tuchel gambled one last time. He played the joker, the goalkeeper whose refusal to stand down for a penalty shoot-out had come to define his Chelsea career. He brought on Kepa Arrizabalaga.
There was a minute to go in extra time. Edouard Mendy had not put a foot wrong. Clearly, Tuchel fancied his understudy more in a showdown. It was a bold move.
Had Chelsea lost Tuchel would have been accused of undermining his number one, of risking unnecessarily.
He did not lose. Chelsea won 6-5. Arrizabalaga made two saves, including the last one, from captain Raul Albiol. He was mobbed immediately by jubilant team-mates. Mendy was there too.
He did not look displeased, unlike Arrizabalaga that day at Wembley when he refused to make way for Willy Caballero. He finished a loser in more ways than one that day.
Not last night. Chelsea had lost their last three UEFA Super Cup finals – and Villarreal were proven penalty specialists. It wasn’t the perfect performance by any means, but the way they won after a first penalty miss by Kai Havertz was a triumph of sorts. And for Arrizabalaga, perhaps a career-changing moment, too.
Earlier, Tuchel had sat on the touchline, fulminating. He had already been booked, for protesting a harsh yellow card against Antonio Rudiger, and was clearly unimpressed with the way Chelsea surrendered control of this game. Certainly, he looked like a man who could not wait to get his Chelsea on the park.
A Chelsea that included a goalscorer of the ability of Romelu Lukaku: a player who he hoped would ensure a game like this was won, and stayed won.
