Kepa Arrizabalaga has endured a torrid time at Stamford Bridge with a number of high-profile mistakes. And those have dried up in the last two games in which Mendy has been between the sticks. Mendy made a fine flying save late on to deny Marcus Rashford what would have surely been the winner at Old Trafford and when asked about the save, Lampard issue what could have been deemed as a thinly-veiled dig at his former incumbent in goal.
Frank Lampard said: “Yes his performance was very good. You rely on your goalkeepers in those moments in a tight game, not full of many chances. Rashford’s first chance was a mistake from us, the one at the end was a moment of quality from him. He showed us what he is there for. We brought him in for his quality. He showed great composure in the games he’s played already and with the saves today in a tight you rely on them moments.”
The ‘you rely on your goalkeepers in those moments’ comment could certainly be construed as a message to Kepa over his past mistakes.
You wait 61 games for a goalless draw and then two come along at once. Frank Lampard had overseen 61 Chelsea games before Tuesday night’s goalless draw with Sevilla in the Champions League without seeing a complete shutout on the pitch. Four days later and the same thing was happening again. At Old Trafford Manchester United and the Blues played out a dour goalless draw to make it two in a row for Lampard. At a time when Chelsea were leaking goals, the clean sheets will come as a welcome boost, but having spent heavily on attacking talent in the summer transfer window, more will have been expected of the forward line. The balance just is not quite right. When they score goals, they concede them too. But when they manage to keep it clean at the back, they are struggling to find the back of the net going forward. New number one Edouard Mendy has certainly helped. It seems the Spaniard may only get another chance if and when Mendy suffers another injury.
