At this summer's European Championship, Spain's main goalkeeper Unai Simon, who played for Athletic Bilbao, played extremely well in the penalty shootout, and the point of defeat was extremely strong, and he almost helped Spain reach the final. Simon's predecessor in Bilbao, Kepa Alisabaraga, who now plays for Chelsea, is also a master of saving points, and in last night's English League Cup, Kepa once again performed in the penalty shootout to help Chelsea advance to the next round.
Chelsea's opponent in this round is also the Premier League's Southampton, although the Blues scored a goal by Havertz first, but Southampton then by Che Adams to equalize, both teams then failed to achieve, the game into a brutal penalty shootout. Southampton's second appearance, Walcott, although playing from a very sharp angle, was still saved by Kepa. Chelsea's Mount and Southampton's Smalborn then lost penalties and Chelsea won the penalty shootout to advance.
Although Kepa "only" saved 1 penalty, it was enough for him to make history. With this goal, Kepa surpassed Chelsea legendary goalkeeper Cech with seven saves to become the goalkeeper with the most penalties in Chelsea's history. The season has only been going on for more than two months, and Kepa has already saved penalties for Chelsea in three penalty shootouts, helping Chelsea through three levels in a row. The first time was in the UEFA Super Cup final, when Kepa, who came off as a substitute for Mendy, made a big splash in the penalty shootout, saving two penalties from Villarreal in succession to help Chelsea successfully win the cup. In the third round of the League Cup last month, Chelsea also faced a penalty shootout, and Kepa saved a penalty this time to help the team pass. According to statistics, this is the first time in Chelsea's history that they have won three penalty shootouts in a row, and the goalkeeper of these three penalty shootouts is Kepa.
And when it comes to Kepa, penalty shootout and the League Cup, everyone will think of Kepa's "famous" 2018-2019 FA Cup final, when Chelsea faced Manchester City in the League Cup final, and before the end of extra time, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to replace Kepa, who seemed to be injured, and switch to Caballero, who was more experienced in saving points. As a result, Kepa refused to go, signaling that he was okay, which made Sarri very angry, and chelsea eventually lost the final. It was after this game that Kepa was dubbed "Coach Kay" by fans.
Chelsea now have mendy, who are super strong in regular time, and Kepa, who is super strong in penalty shootouts, and the league and cup games seem to be more confident.