Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois leads Chelsea to penalty-kick victory over Paris Saint-Germain
For six rounds of penalty kicks, Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stayed strong in the net.
And after blocking a shot by Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Silva to open the seventh round, Courtois removed himself from the goal to take the game-winning shot for his team. He delivered.
After the two sides ended regulation in a 1-1 draw, Courtois blasted a shot past Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to give Chelsea a 6-5 win in penalty kicks during Saturday’s International Champions Cup match at Bank of America Stadium.
In the 25th minute, Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the lone goal of the first half, pouncing on a rebound off the left goalpost and putting the ball in the back of the net to hand the French Ligue 1 side a 1-0 advantage.
Chelsea, which lost its first match of the tournament Wednesday 4-2 to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, couldn’t break Paris Saint-Germain’s defense in the first half, managing just two shots compared to Paris Saint-Germain’s 10.
But the English Premier League champion finally got on the scoreboard in the 65th minute. Cesc Fabregas lofted a pass over the defense to Victor Moses, who finished in front of the net to tie the score at 1.
The tie stayed intact for the remainder of regulation, and the two teams proceeded to penalty kicks. Each team missed one of its first five attempts before Courtois blocked Silva’s shot in the seventh round and set up his winning goal.
Quote
“It was nice. There was a lot of tension in the last game, and even in the preseason you want to win. I tried to do my best. We decided before that if they needed a penalty shooter I would shoot, so I was lucky. I was confident to shoot, and I just shot.” – Courtois on his goal to give Chelsea its first victory in the tournament.
Worth mentioning
Paris Saint-Germain beat Chelsea in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League this past season.
What’s next?
Chelsea faces off against Barcelona of La Liga at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Paris Saint-Germain plays Manchester United of the EPL at 9 p.m. on Wednesday at Soldier Field in Chicago. Manchester United beat Barcelona 3-1 Saturday in Santa Clara, Calif.
This story was originally published July 25, 2015 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois leads Chelsea to penalty-kick victory over Paris Saint-Germain."