It was not a good result on Sunday, even as far as preseason results go, as there were a grand total of two players in a Chelsea shirt who did not manage to put in a substandard shift. One of those players was our starting goalkeeper; the other, our backup goalkeeper. That's Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech, though it's hard to be sure which one is which at this point.
Both keepers were beaten on the night, once by a penalty each (where they both guessed correctly but the shot was just barely out of their reach) and Courtois a second time by a rather perfectly placed header low into the far corner. But it's the save, already a save of the year candidate from young Thibaut that's got us all mesmerized, including the boss.
"Courtois is the same as the others, two days training and playing today for 45 minutes, he needs to play, we don't have lots of time. It's only two weeks until the start of the season so we gave him and Petr 45 minutes each, the next match in Turkey it will be the same. He made a fantastic save from Di Santo, with the other goal he had no chance, but that save was fantastic."
-Jose Mourinho; source: Chelsea FC
Despite the half-time scoreline, Courtois was not really tested regularly. He made a wondersave,* he plucked a corner out of the air, and he launched a booming goal kick that almost created a chance for Mohamed Salah. That was about the breadth of his work on the day; a quality start nonetheless, despite the two goals conceded, and a good start (finally) to his Chelsea career. If we're looking to take positives from a Sunday to forget, this should be first and foremost on the list.
* That he let the rebound go straight out (and up) instead of pushing it wide is mostly academical, especially after pulling off the impossible. He recovered his position in an instant and a looping, slow pop-up is hardly a dangerous ball at that point. (Assuming proper defensive positioning, which, admittedly, was lacking at times.)