Thibaut Courtois, last year’s Premier League Golden Glove winner, got this year’s edition of the Encyclopaedia Thibautica off to an early start with this tremendous save on Granit Xhaka’s shot in the 75th minute.
Shhhhhpectacular, indeed.
Unfortunately Chelsea gave up an equalizer a few minutes later (after Pedro’s red card) and then Courtois missed his take in the penalty kick shootout, but I’d much rather remember this piece of aerial aerobatics than any of that inconsequential nonsense. (Remember, friendly results don’t count!)
Courtois was no doubt helped by his tremendous height to pull off this remarkable save, but getting strong enough fingers to that shot at the right time is no mean feat.
That said, hopefully he won’t need to be relied upon to make too many wondersaves this season to keep Chelsea competitive.
Previous Encyclopaedia Thibautica entries:
VOLUME I:
.1: David Nugent (Leicester City)
.2: Kevin Mirallas (Everton)
.3: Adam Lallana (Liverpool)
.4: triple save (Hull City)
VOLUME II:
.1: James Morrison (WBA)
.2: Ander Herrera (Manchester United)
VOLUME III:
.1: Divock Origi (Liverpool)
.2: Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland)
VOLUME IV:
.0: Granit Xhaka (Arsenal)