Robert Sanchez sported a skull cap as he lined up for Chelsea against Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
The Spaniard missed the Blues’ most recent game - the 1-1 draw against Liverpool - through injury after suffering a nasty clash of heads with Morgan Gibbs-White in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest.
It resulted in Gibbs-White suffering severe bruising all over his forehead and nose, and that was on display as he sat on the bench for Forest’s 4-0 loss at Aston Villa in the Europa League.
It also had repercussions for Sanchez, who was forced to sit out of his side’s trip to Anfield, and Filip Jorgensen replaced him in net for Calum McFarlane’s side.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper returned to action at Wembley Stadium on Saturday in the cup final, as Chelsea were beaten 1-0 thanks to Antoine Semenyo’s 72nd-minute winner.
It prompted comparisons on social media with Chelsea’s former No1 Petr Cech, who wore a headguard in every game he played after suffering a serious, life-threatening skull fracture after a collision with Stephen Hunt during the Blues’ game with Reading back in October 2006.
Sanchez was one of three returners from the treatment table under the arch, but he was the only starter.
The other two were wingers Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto, with the Argentina and Portugal internationals coming back from their respective muscle issues.
Both, however, had to settle for places among the substitutes.
There was also a huge boost for Pep Guardiola in City’s pursuit of a domestic treble, with Rodri also returning from the groin injury that he suffered in the 2-1 win over Arsenal, forcing him to miss a vital part of the run-in.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner’s comeback will be massive for City, who are hoping to chase down the table-topping Gunners as the Premier League title race goes down to the last two games of the campaign.
