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Football London
Football London
Sport
Bobby Vincent

Kepa Arrizabalaga sends seven-word message after Chelsea star vindicates Edouard Mendy decision

Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has issued a defiant message after helping the Blues progress into the FIFA Club World Cup final.

The 27-year-old kept his place in the Chelsea XI for the semi-final against Al Hilal despite Edouard Mendy joining up with his teammates in the United Arab Emirates earlier in the day.

Kepa has now started the Blues' last seven matches in all competitions, with the Spanish goalkeeper continuing to impress for the European champions in a rare chance to showcase his talents in the starting line-up.

The first-half of the match saw Chelsea on top of Al Hilal, with Romelu Lukaku opening the scoring on 32 minutes - which proved to be the only goal of the match.

This would not have been the case if Kepa was not on top form, though, with the Spaniard impressively keeping out a long-range effort from Mohammed Kanno.

Plenty of Blues supporters on social media were full of praise for Kepa, with the man himself taking to Twitter after the game to send a simple seven-word message.

It read: "Through to the final! Here we come."

What has Kepa said in the past?

Kepa, as mentioned above, has hardly been given a chance since the arrival of Mendy before the start of last season.

However, with Mendy being on international duty with Senegal recently, there has been a run of matches in the team for Kepa. When speaking in December, the Spaniard acknowledged that he needed to take the opportunity - and it now seems like he has.

Kepa said: "It is not easy to step on the pitch and feel like you are playing every week, but I feel like this.

"It is important to help the team and be calm, and be happy with your performance. Those are the most important things for me. You know I am not playing a lot, so the opportunities I have, I want to take."

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