Chelsea beat Villarreal 6-5 in a penalty shootout to lift the UEFA Super Cup for a second time after a draining 120 minutes at Windsor Par, Belfast, Northern Ireland last night.
Substitute goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga saved captain Raul Albiol’s spot-kick on a night that began superbly for Chelsea with an excellent first-half performance before Villarreal stormed back into the contest after half time.
Hakim Ziyech opened the scoring midway through the opening 45 minutes but was then forced off with what looked like a worrying shoulder injury before half-time.
Villarreal hit the woodwork either side of the break before Gerard Moreno equalised in the 73rd minute to force extra time.
Chelsea, who look set to complete a deal to re-sign striker Romelu Lukaku for a club record fee of £97.5 million from Inter Milan, failed to rediscover their first-half vigour in extra time but did come close to a winner through Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount.
It was the first time that the Super Cup was played in Northern Ireland, and 13,000 spectators generated a fantastic atmosphere in the south Belfast stadium. It was highest attendance at any sports event in the country since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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