By Abba Ibrahim
Chelsea needed 120 minutes and heroics from Kepa Arrizabalaga in a penalty shoot-out to win their first UEFA Super Cup since 1998.
Chelsea’s most recent victory in this winners’ play-off was a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup before it was renamed the UEFA Europa League. Gus Poyet of Uruguay scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute.
Chelsea started the final in Belfast better, taking the lead thanks to Hakim Ziyech in the 27th minute, but they let up in the second half, allowing Villareal to equalize and forcing the game into extra time and penalties.
Chelsea’s previous three attempts at the title ended in defeats to a Radamel Falcao-inspired Atletico Madrid in 2012, Bayern Munich in 2013 and Liverpool in 2019 via spot-kicks.
Villareal’s coach, Unai Emery, has now finished second in the annual season opener for the third time in his career. He lost two consecutive Super Cup finals as the head coach of Sevilla, to Real Madrid (2-0 in 2014) and Barcelona (1-0 in 2015). (5-4 on penalties in 2015). Villareal defeated Manchester United 11-10 on penalties to qualify for the Super Cup, while Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1-0.