Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has defended Kepa Arrizabalaga even though the goalkeeper defied his orders in refusing to come off as a substitute deep into extra-time.
Stand-in glovesman Willy Caballero was primed to come on after Kepa went down injured but in an extraordinary turn of events the Spaniard stayed on the pitch.
Kepa complained to David Luiz after seeing his number come up on the substitutes board
This prompted Sarri to have a huge meltdown and he even turned to walk down the tunnel at one point but decided against doing it mid-game.
Kepa then faced City’s spot-kicks and saved Leroy Sane’s effort from 12 yards but Chelsea lost the final after misses from Jorginho and David Luiz.
The incident has prompted even more speculation that Sarri has no authority in the dressing room and talkSPORT’s Ryan Mason claimed this could lead to the Italian leaving his post.
Sarri couldn’t believe Kepa refused to come off
But speaking to talkSPORT’s Ian Abrahams after the final, Sarri insisted it was a misunderstanding and Kepa was not actually injured, however he did admit the player’s conduct was not right.
Sarri said: “I’m telling you the truth – it was a misunderstanding.
“I understood that he had cramp so we needed to change because I didn’t want a goalkeeper with cramp in the penalty shootout.
“The goalkeeper told me from the pitch ‘No I am able to play’ and I realised from the situation only when I spoke to the doctor after three or four minutes but in the meantime the misunderstanding went on.
“Yes of course [I was angry] but as I said before he [Kepa] was right for the reason but in the wrong way for the conduct.
“If you saw the match then you have the answer [on whether Sarri is backed by his players].”
Kepa said after the game he wasn’t disobeying Sarri’s orders.
He said: “In no moment was it my intention to disobey, or anything like that with the boss.
“Just that it was misunderstood, because I had been attended to by the medics twice, and he thought that I wasn’t in condition to continue.
“It was two or three minutes of confusion until the medics got to the bench, and they explained everything well.”
This story was originally published by talkSPORT
via USAHint.com
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