Keeper defies Sarri in final
City clinch League Cup on penalties after Arrizabalaga refuses to be replaced for shootout
Watching goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga appearing to struggle with cramp and with a penalty shootout looming to settle the League Cup final, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri summoned a substitute from the bench.
Kepa was furious. Wildly gesticulating with his arms, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper forcibly indicated to Sarri he would be ready to face penalties against Manchester City with the Wembley showpiece locked at 0-0 and extra time about to end.
But Sarri was determined to bring on Willy Caballero, who saved three spot kicks in the 2016 League Cup final while in City’s winning side.
So Kepa, who joined Chelsea in August for €80 million ($132 million), simply refused to leave the field.
“Once your number goes up, you have to come off and show a bit of respect,” former Chelsea captain John Terry said on the Sky Sports broadcast. “Deal with that after.”
Publicly humiliated with his authority undermined, Sarri was furious and initially headed down the tunnel before returning just in time for extra time to end.
In the shootout, Kepa made one save from Leroy Sane but was beaten four times as Raheem Sterling completed a 4-3 victory on penalties to defend City’s title and keep the team in contention for a quadruple.
After collecting his runners-up medal, Sarri sought to diffuse the controversy.
“It was a big misunderstanding,” Sarri said. “I understood the goalkeeper had cramp, and for me, he was unable to go to penalties, but the problem was not cramp, so he was able to go to penalties.”
With Kepa offering no immediate public explanation, it was left to Sarri to do the talking.
“Kepa was right but in the wrong way,” Sarri said. “He was right for the motivation but not for the conduct.”
The insubordination exposes the player power that has appeared to often cause problems for Chelsea managers. It leaves the 60-year-old Sarri without a trophy in his career and Kepa’s defiance adds to the manager’s problems, with Chelsea down to sixth in the Premier League.
The incident distracted attention from how Sarri had set up his team to successfully thwart City two weeks after a 6-0 loss in the Premier League.
“The players played exactly the match we prepared,” Sarri said. “I think I am fully in control of this situation. We conceded nothing to the best team in Europe.”
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said seeing Sarri undercut by Kepa made him “really sad”.
“I don’t like that he leaves his coach and assistant coach in a situation of great fragility,” Mourinho said while covering the match in Spain.
Mourinho was fired by Chelsea in 2015 over “palpable discord” with his players. “Luckily I never had to go through this,” Mourinho said of Kepa’s onfield behaviour. “The goalkeeper wants to show his personality, his confidence, wants to show that he is there and wants to be at the shootout and make saves — and I like that.”
The episode took the focus off Pep Guardiola winning his third major trophy in three seasons at City. City lost top spot in the Premier League yesterday after Liverpool drew 0-0 at Manchester United. But City are only a point behind Liverpool and the Abu Dhabi-owned team remain in contention for the Champions League and FA Cup as well.
“The only problem is we will miss a lot of important players for the next few weeks,” Guardiola said. “Being in four competitions is so demanding, so tough. We don’t know where we’re going to arrive. “[Aymeric] Laporte, Fernandinho are injured, but it’s much better of course when you win.”
And win calmly — without a flashpoint like Kepa defying his manager.
“I’ve never seen it [before],” City captain Vincent Kompany said. “I wish I could do it every now and then when I don’t want to get subbed off.”