London: Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga publicly defied his manager Maurizio Sarri during Sunday’s League Cup final defeat by Manchester City on Sunday, refusing to be substituted near the end of extra time at the Wembley Stadium.
In one of the strangest incidents ever seen in a final of an English competition, the repercussions for both people involved could be serious.
Near the end of extra time, with the final locked at 0-0, the Spanish international was troubled by hamstring problems and the Italian tried to replace him with Willy Caballero.
But Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper after joining Chelsea for 80 million euros, refused to leave the field – wildly indicating to the touchline that he wanted to continue. Publicly humiliated, Sarri was furious on the touchline and initially headed down the tunnel before returning for the end of 120 minutes and the penalties.
In the shootout, Arrizabalaga made only one save from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling completed a 4-3 victory on penalties to keep City in contention for a quadruple.
