Chelsea flop Kepa the Carabao Cup penalty villain again

Carlo Garganese

• 27 Feb 2022 19:42 GMT
• 4 min read

Not for the first time, Kepa Arrizabalaga was the Carabao Cup final villain.

Three years ago he infamously refused to be substituted when manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to bring on Willy Caballero for the shootout which Chelsea eventually lost to Man City.

Today, Kepa was brought on in the closing seconds of extra time for Edouard Mendy – who had been brilliant in normal time – specifically for penalties.

Kepa is renowned as a penalty expect but failed to save all 11 of Liverpool’s spot-kicks, with Ibrahima Konate’s effort one he really shout have stopped.

With Liverpool 11-10 up in an epic shootout – Liverpool goalkeeper Caomhin Kelleher scoring his penalty – Kepa skied his effort so high over the bar it is still rising.

The gamble to bring on Kepa – one of Chelsea’s biggest ever transfer flops – backfired.

Before penalties it had been one of those games where – despite there being chance after chance after chance – it just seemed destined to end goalless.

Mason Mount squandered two glorious chances in each half, first firing wide from six yards when it seemed easier to score and then getting the ball stuck under his foot and shooting against the post with just Caoimhin Kelleher to beat.

Sadio Mane couldn’t believe his eyes when Edouard Mendy somehow got up to turn his rebound over the bar from close range, while the lively Luis Diaz was also denied by Mendy in a one-on-one scenario. When Mendy was beaten as Salah ran through on goal and flicked it over him, Thiago Silva came to the rescue.

And when the ball did hit the back of net – as it did on no fewer than THREE occasions – the goals were disallowed for offside.

Two of these were controversial – at least on initial viewing.

Joel Matip thought he had broken the deadlock midway through the second half at the back post after a smart free-kick routine but the offside Virgil van Dijk (who didn’t play the ball) was seemingly adjudged to have been interfering with play when Trent Alexander-Arnold floated it to Sadio Mane at the back post.

And then substitute Romelu Lukaku – who had a shot brilliantly saved in injury time of normal time – thought he had scored in extra time.

Lukaku ran clear and buried his finish but was deemed offside. The replays with the freeze-frame of when the ball was played showed a red line going up to Lukaku’s arm. It was unclear what part of the arm.

The only certainty was Havertz’s goal in the second half of extra time was correctly ruled out for offside.

Havertz justified Thomas Tuchel’s decision to start him up front instead of Lukaku. He led the line wonderfully, playing well with the play in front of him and with his back to goal.

The German showed strength in matching Liverpool’s centre backs physically but also was very creative. He set up two big chances for Christian Pulisic and Havertz and most of Chelsea’s good play went through him. His level never dropped throughout this gruelling contest and he was the coolest man on the pitch when scoring his penalty in the shootout.

He deserved to be on the winning side.

To be fair to Lukaku, he did well himself when he came on. He had that goal controversially disallowed and also had another effort brilliantly saved. He also dispatched his penalty with confidence.

Most of the penalties were excellent, but certainly not Kepa’s. He was the villain in what has been a dark weekend for Chelsea and their owner (is he still their owner?!) Roman Abramovich.