The Blues goalkeeper was the hero for his side as they progressed to the Carabao Cup fourth round after a penalty shootout victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was the hero for his side as they progressed into the Carabao Cup fourth round with a penalty shootout win over Aston Villa.

The Blues took the lead in the cup tie through Timo Werner, but the visitors found an equaliser at Stamford Bridge through a Cameron Archer header.

So, the tie went to a penalty shootout and once again Kepa was the hero from 12 yards after saving a spot-kick from Villa star Marvelous Nakamba.

Ben Chilwell missed for Chelsea, but Ashley Young did as well for the visitors, meaning Reece James had the chance to send the hosts through to the fourth round and did so in style

Kepa's penalty-saving heroics are nothing new, with the Spanish goalkeeper proving his ability to save from 12 yards in the UEFA Super Cup victory over Villarreal earlier in the season after coming on for Edouard Mendy in extra-time.

Chelsea fans, when taking to Twitter following the win against Villa, all said the same thing about their second-choice goalkeeper.

Speaking about the Spanish goalkeeper after the match, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel heaped the praise on his ability in shootouts.

"Kepa is very strong at penalties. He has good experiences in shoot-outs so we focused on that, and tried our best," Tuchel said.

"I am happy the players kept their cool. It is a nice win and I am happy because it was a tough match, a hard cup fight, and it's a good feeling to win."

Kepa now has the most penalty shootout saves in Chelsea's history, with seven, moving one clear of club legend Petr Cech, who had six.

The 26-year-old will be hoping he has done enough to convince Tuchel to play him against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, with the fitness of Mendy still not certain.

"Mendy cannot play tomorrow," Tuchel said in his pre-Villa press conference on Tuesday

"He has not been in training so far so we will try to do everything for Saturday, to reintegrate him tomorrow for individual training and hopefully Thursday’s team training, but not yet.

"I think Saturday is possible but it's a race against pain and a race against time.

"So let's see. I hope he will be back in team training on Thursday and if this goes well he can be ready for Saturday, but I don't know right now."

Source: Football London