Kepa Arrizabalaga has been praised for his brilliant match-winning performance against Aston Villa.
The Chelsea shot-stopper made a handful of good saves with two exceptional pieces of goalkeeping keeping Steven Gerrard's side out and keeping the Blues in the game. Having gone ahead early through Mason Mount, Kepa was the much busier of the two keepers but repaid the faith shown in him by Graham Potter.
The Spaniard has become the new No.1 after a combination of injury to Edouard Mendy and early form from Kepa meant that rotating him was out of the question.
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This comes as a surprise as Mendy has been the firm holder of the shirt since joining two years ago and was preferred to Kepa all the way until the end of Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge. The Senegalese international was going through his worst run of form in a Chelsea shirt but may have expected to regain his spot once fully fit again.
Kepa's start has made this a complex issue though, with four clean sheets in a row after conceding a questionable goal against RB Salzburg and having little chance of stopping Palace's strike. His ability to play as an extra defender on the ball is important for Potter though, who was a big part of the rise of Bobby Sanchez at Brighton.
Kepa summed up his improved performance and confidence at Villa Park on Sunday with a string of fine first half saves culminating in denying Danny Ings what looked a certain goal. The English forward looked to have scored with his head from Leon Bailey's cross only for Kepa to cover ground across his goal and push the ball over the bar in brilliant style.
For Ings, it was a hard one to take, and he praised Kepa, saying: "Credit to their keeper, I thought he kept them in the game. My header and JJ’s strike were magnificent saves. If they go in, it’s a different game."
For the first time in a long time Kepa has the full support and confidence of a Chelsea manager and is slowly rebuilding the trust of fans who have been frustrated with his return since joining for £72million in 2018. Making saves like he did on Sunday will only increase the difficulty of Mendy's task in regaining the No.1 jersey.
It isn't a dilemma that Potter may have expected in months gone by. Not only was he still manager on the south coast over the summer, Chelsea were close to allowing Kepa to leave. With the hope of trying to get into Spain's World Cup squad still, and no clear way of regaining his standing at SW6, the Blues were open to allowing Kepa to leave. He also wanted to go but Todd Boehly wouldn't sanction a loan move, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Although it was more by happy accident than concrete planning, Chelsea have remained with Kepa at the club and for now, he's repaying their faith.
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