Chelsea new boy Edouard Mendy has become the first goalkeeper since Petr Cech at Stamford Bridge to keep two clean sheets in his first two starts for the club.
The Senegal international was Man of the Match as the Blues kept out Manchester United in a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.
It follows the clean sheet that Mendy kept in a 0-0 draw with Sevilla t Stamford Bridge in the Champions League earlier in the week.
Kepa’s struggles between the sticks has been well documented under Frank Lampard and Chelsea appeared far more solid with Mendy’s command of his box at the Theatre of Dreams.
The 28-year-old made a number of fine stops to keep out the likes of Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Bruno Fernandes.
Remarkably, it’s the first time since 2004 when Petr Cech signed for the club that a Chelsea goalkeeper has kept two clean sheets in their first two starts for the club.
It’s a promising sign that Mendy can fill the void left by Thibaut Courtois in 2017 and the former Rennes ace has certainly made an impressive start to life in west London.
Mendy’s next challenge will be replicating these sort of performances on a regular basis and the Blues face Krasnador on Wednesday, when the goalkeeper is expected to keep his place.
The veteran retired from football two years ago but Lampard felt the unprecedented nature of the current climate could leave him short between the sticks and Cech agreed to take a ‘non-contract’ place in the squad.
The Czech stopper has been training with Chelsea’s first team in recent weeks, mainly to help the likes of Mendy and Kepa in training.
