Pat Nevin voiced his frustration at Kepa Arrizabalaga’s penalty heroics for Chelsea against Plymouth Argyle being overshadowed by the media’s criticism of Romelu Lukaku.
Writing for the club website, the former winger noted his dissatisfaction towards Lukaku unwittingly taking the limelight away from the Spanish shot-stopper.
Credit Kepa
Kepa certainly made the headlines by preventing Plymouth from scoring a 118th-minute spot-kick last Saturday that would’ve taken the FA Cup tie to penalties.
With the scores level after normal time, Marcos Alonso sent the European champions ahead just before the interval in the additional half an hour.
Yet, Malang Sarr’s sloppy back pass and even sloppier challenge gifted Plymouth a golden opportunity to equalise.
Ryan Hardie held the ball in his hands and placed it down 12 yards from goal.
As the world held its breath, Hardie softly stroked his shot into the grateful arms of Kepa, who to his credit read where the effort was going.
Despite this significant moment, some news outlets decided to focus on Lukaku’s lack of involvement, rather than the Chelsea goalkeeper’s participation.
Admittedly, the striker had another day to forget, managing just 31 touches in the game and only hitting the target once.
However, as Nevin rightly pointed out, the afternoon shouldn’t have been about the Blue Belgian.
“As everyone knows, the goalies rarely get the headlines and even at the weekend there were far more column inches devoted to Romelu Lukaku not scoring, even as we had those 41 efforts on goal, than there were about Kepa saving the day at the death,” he said.
“It is always a shame because when a keeper does make a mistake you can bet your bottom dollar he will be the focus of attention, sometimes for weeks and months afterwards.”
Fallen soldiers
Kepa knows full well the effects an error can have on a player in his position.
Throughout Frank Lampard’s reign, he was ridiculed for repeated blunders and slip-ups.
It ultimately cost the 27-year-old his number one jersey, claimed eventually by Edouard Mendy.
Thomas Tuchel’s arrival has reversed the fortunes of Mendy’s understudy, but not Lukaku’s.
He simply is not the centre-forward Chelsea acquired from Inter Milan last summer for a club-record fee.
This could be down to a number of factors, but in the end, he just doesn’t look like the correct fit for the Blues.
We hope it works out for Romelu. Sadly, some things are simply not meant to be.
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