Man City were on the attack and Bernardo Silva found Ryan Cherki, who sent a cross straight to Kepa’s hands. Somehow, the ball slipped between the goalkeeper’s gloves, allowing youngster Nico O’Reilly to score an easy header to open the scoreboard.

Kepa is not the usual starter, but he played throughout this tournament to give starting GK David Raya some rest. However, this is the 2026 EFL Cup final, and now manager Mikel Arteta might be regretting the decision to put Kepa in.

O’Reilly scored a second goal shortly after

Minutes after, City once again attacked from the right side to send a cross, which was once again headed in by O’Reilly. This time, there was no mistake from Kepa, but O’Reilly was all alone to put his shot right past him.

All of a sudden, this turned into an uphill battle for Arsenal, who haven’t found an answer to decipher how to create harm against City’s defense. The fact is, the Citizens have been the better team all around.

O’Reilly is an unlikely hero for the City squad

O’Reilly scoring a brace in five minutes to give City quite the lead in the EFL Cup final was not on many bingo cards. Firstly, because O’Reilly is the left back of the team, it’s not expected for him to be so close to goal, especially twice in five minutes.

Second of all, O’Reilly had six goals in all competitions before this game, according to TransferMarkt. Having said all of this, O’Reilly is 6’3″, making him a tall player, and an aerial threat, as proven by his brace in the final.

The campaign has just started, and Real Madrid is already facing difficulties. Before their debut in the 2023-24 LaLiga season, the team was informed about Thibaut Courtois’ injury, which will keep him out for the entire year.

The starting goalkeeper tore his ACL prior to the team’s debut. Andriy Lunin is his backup, but Real Madrid is not very confident about entrusting the job to the Ukrainian player. Therefore, they are set to unveil their new signing to replace the Belgian this week.

Report: Real Madrid agree terms with Spanish goalie to replace Thibaut Courtois

Real Madrid started the 2023-24 campaign in the worst way possible. The team has lost both Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao due to ACL injuries, leaving them out of the field for the entire season.

It is the Belgian’s injury that worries the team the most. Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world today, so it will be very difficult to find someone who can fill his shoes.

The club is aware of this situation, and they won’t make a blockbuster move for a star goalkeeper. However, the Merengues are set to add a player who has experience in the Premier League to replace Courtois while he is sidelined.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid will unveil Kepa Arrizabalaga as their new goalkeeper this week. The Spanish player will arrive on a loan deal with no option to buy clause; he will return to Chelsea in the summer of 2024.

Kepa is poised to compete against Lunin for the starting job. Carlo Ancelotti, the team’s coach, stated that the Ukrainian would replace Courtois, but this signing could shake things up, given Arrizabalaga’s greater experience.

However, it’s safe to say that things haven’t turned out as expected at Stamford Bridge. The Spanish goalkeeper has struggled to adjust to life in the English top-flightand failed to deliver the security the Blues were looking for between the sticks.

Therefore, he was quickly replaced byveteran goalie Willy Caballero. Shortly after that, Chelsea made clear they were looking for another man for the job when Edouard Mendy arrived in 2020. Now, Kepa is reportedly looking for a way out as he is clearly not having any chances with the Senegalese star ahead of him.

Chelsea reportedly approveKepa loan move to Serie A club

Even though he came to the rescue to lift Chelsea to the UEFASuper Cup triumph at the beginning of the season, Kepa has barely put on the gloves this term as he made just one Premier League appearance andstarted on two English League Cup affairs.

That’s why, according to As, Chelsea understand Kepa’s desire to leave and will let him join Lazio when the January transfer window opens. The former Athletic Club goalkeeper would move to the Serie A side on loan, but the Spanish outlet claims there’s a couple of things that the Italians would need to take care of first.

One aspect that Lazio need to resolve is Kepa’s salary, given that his reported €7m-a-year salary would be unaffordable for them. Besides, they would also have to get rid of one goalkeeper, as they currently have Pepe Reina andThomas Strakosha.

Kepa has ties with Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri, who has had Kepa when he was at the helm of Chelsea in the 2018-2019 season. The move would benefit all parties involved, yet it remains to be seen whether Lazio canget the deal done.