Chelsea was back to their winning ways on Wednesday night when they beat Unai Emery’s Side 6-5 in post-match penalties to win the Super Cup.
The first goal of the match was scored by Hakim Ziyech on the 27th minute of the game and was equalized on the 73rd minute by Gerard Moreno. Both teams were unable to find the net in 90 minutes and extra time to force a penalty shootout.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was the star of the game after he saved to spot kicks for the blues.
Speaking in a post-match interview after Thomas Tuchel said the late minute substitution of Edouard Mendy to give room for Kapa was informed by analysis on the success rate of their three goalkeepers on who was better placed to save penalties. A gamble which seemed to pay off eventually.
Chelsea’s win ended their super cup drought which has that for 22 years. The last time they won the trophy was in 1998 under the leadership of Gianluca Vialli as the coach.
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Thomas Tuchel said the win was what they needed to put the team in good mental to start the English Premier League Season which kicks off on the August 13, 2021.
Villareal were without the services of winger Samuel Chukwueze, who is still recovering from a hip injury sustained against Arsenal in the Europa League semi-finals, while Dani Parejo also miss out with a calf problem.
Thomas Tuchel’s side are looking to be bolstered by the arrival of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku from Italian Giants Inter Milan.
The striker left Chelsea in 2014 after joining the squad from Everton where he had scored 87 goals in 166 appearances for Everton and 42 goals in 96 appearances for Manchester United before signing for Inter Milan in 2019.
Lukaku’s move back to the blues is touted as the most expensive player in terms of combined transfer fees, at a staggering £308.5m which will be over Ksh.39.5 billion (£30 million) more than Neymar who is currently second with Ksh.34.7 billion (£271.7 million).
