It’s not every day a club spends £71.6m for an outfield player, let alone for a goalkeeper, but when Chelsea did so for Kepa Arrizabalaga, the expectations were that he would come in and save them in crucial times – and he has certainly done so.
The Spain international has proven a few times that he can be trusted by his employers and on a day when Chelsea’s top-four rivals kept dropping points, he came to the rescue and provided the foundation for their well-deserved win over Watford.
Chelsea blew their opponents away on Sunday in a 3-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge. But before the goals flew in after the half-time break, Maurizio Sarri’s side had weathered the storm. Watford piled pressure on Chelsea right from the first blast of the whistle and the Blues grew anxious for the most part of it.
In the middle of that intensity, Troy Deeney came very close to opening the scoring for the Hornets but Kepa provided a reminder why he was the most expensive goalkeeper in world football. He somehow fingernailed the ball away with an outstretched left arm, as he dived to his right.
The stadium went berserk and right there in the middle of the hysteria, a legend is maybe being born. Let’s hope he can keep up this good progress next season and keep improving.
