Chelsea were crowned Uefa Super Cup champions after defeating Villarreal 6-5 on penalties at Windsor Park in Belfast on Wednesday night.
The Blues got off to a bright start and should’ve taken an early lead but Timo Werner and N’Golo Kante were unable to find the net in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
Thomas Tuchel’s side did eventually take the lead in the 27th minute when Kai Havertz made a run off the back of the defence before sending the ball into the path of Hakim Ziyech, who slotted the ball home from 10 yards out.
The Spanish outfit thought they should’ve been awarded a penalty two minutes later, but the replay showed Marcos Alonso blocked Pino’s cross with his thigh.
Mendy came to Chelsea’s rescue in the 33rd minute when he made a great block to keep out Dia’s low shot from 15 yards out after Chalobah failed to make the initial block.
At the other end, Asenjo produced a great save of his own to deny Alonso’s low strike which looked to be heading for the bottom corner before Zouma lashed his effort over the bar two minutes later.
Chelsea were forced into making a substitution in the 39th minute when goalscorer Ziyech was taken off after picking up what looked to be a shoulder injury.
Villarreal had a golden opportunity to level matters in stoppage time but Moreno blasted his volley against the underside of the crossbar before the ball came off the line and cleared as the Blues went into the break with a one-goal lead.
The Blues came out with more intent on the second half and nearly doubled their lead but Havertz fired his effort into the side-netting from the edge of the box.
Villarreal failed to make the most of their chance in the 53rd minute when Mendy’s pass fell straight to Moreno, who went through on goal before hitting the post with his effort to save the Chelsea keeper blushes.
Moreno came close to finding an equaliser in the 68th minute but saw his fierce shot from an acute angle blocked by the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Villarreal’s persistence finally paid off in the 73rd minute when Moreno fired the ball past Mendy after he was played through on goal by a Dia backheel following a poor clearance from Rudiger.
Alonso had a chance to put the game to bed late in stoppage time but the Chelsea fullback fired his effort into the side-netting to send the game into extra time.
Neither side could be separated after 120 minutes of play, forcing a penalty shootout.
However, substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga proved to be the hero after he made two saves to win theshootout and hand Chelsea the Uefa Super Cup trophy.
