UEFA Super Cup: Kepa The Hero As Chelsea Beat Villarreal

UEFA Super Cup: Kepa The Hero As Chelsea Beat Villarreal By Omolagba Oluwayemi Having lost their last three UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea on Wednesday night defeated Villarreal to end the bad run in the competition all thanks to one man, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who came in as a substitute saved captain Raul Albiol's spot-kick at Windsor Park on a night that began superbly for the Blues with an excellent first-half performance before the Spaniards stormed back into the contest after the break. Chelsea took to lead midway through the first 45 minutes but was soon forced off through shoulder injury. Villarreal came close to equalising in the first half but got denied by the woodwork and that same woodwork again in the second half denied them before Gerard Moreno finally got the equaliser for the Spaniards in the 73rd minutes to force the game into extra time. The extra time produced no goal and towards the tale end of the extra time, Kepa was brought off the bench by Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and the goalkeeper dived low to his right to save from Albiol - his second save of the shootout having also denied Aissa Mandi to spark mass scenes of celebration among the Chelsea players and supporters. It was the first time the Super Cup was played in Northern Ireland and 13,000 spectators generated a fantastic atmosphere in the south Belfast stadium, the highest attendance at any sports event in the country since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.