WATCH: Kepa Arrizabalaga double-save from Balbuena and Antonio against West Ham

Kepa Arrizabalaga has become a bit of a (social media) scapegoat in recent weeks, thanks to Chelsea’s habit of giving up “stupid” goals, such as Wass’s lucky cross on Wednesday that flew over everyone’s head and pinged in off the inside of the post for Valencia’s late equalizer.

Unfortunately Saturday’s result will not have helped the Chelsea’s No.1’s save percentage (4 shots on target) or xG against numbers much either (West Ham barely edged above 1.0 xG for the game), metrics that his critics have also latched onto despite them being wholly inadequate and unfit for any meaningful in-depth analysis.

But his double save just before the hour-mark to keep Chelsea in the game should serve as a great reminder of his importance to the team, even as we continue to show off our shambolic set piece defending, vulnerability on the counter, and a consistent inability to deal with left-footed crosses from the right wing (which drew another excellent save from the Chelsea goalkeeper on Antonio’s header).

Photo by IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images