Twitter Reacts as Kepa Arrizabalaga Refuses to Be Substituted During Carabao Cup Final

In one of the most bizarre incidents you are ever likely to witness on a football pitch, Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga​ refused to come off as a substitute during the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

Kepa went down with what appeared to be a hamstring injury during the closing stages of extra-time and, just when it looked as though he would be replaced by reserve keeper Willy Caballero, the Spaniard refused to budge, undermining the authority of Maurizio Sarri in the process - much to the Chelsea manager's dismay.

Sarri immediately lost his cool with Kepa, Caballero and virtually everyone in his path, smashing a bottle against his seat on the ​Chelsea bench before almost storming down the Wembley Stadium in disgust.

The Italian manager was probably wishing he did end up leaving. The match went to penalties and although Kepa was able to keep out a spot kick from Leroy Sane, Chelsea were defeated 4-3 after David Luiz missed a decisive penalty for the Blues, leaving ​Manchester City as the 2018/19 Carabao Cup winners.

It's fair to say that the Kepa saga brightened up an otherwise drab affair and plenty had their say on the incident on social media.

Some supporters felt plenty of sympathy for Maurizio Sarri...

Whether or not he was injured that was disgraceful from Kepa. He should be ashamed of himself. I actually feel very sorry for Sarri.

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) February 24, 2019

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Is that performance enough to save Sarri, or has the incident with Kepa proved he’s lost the dressing room? #cfc

— Oliver Harbord (@ojharbord) February 24, 2019

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Kepa shoudn't play for Chelslea again. Utterly disrespectful and karma bit back hard. Feel so sorry for Sarri, what a joke. pic.twitter.com/10KANWmgCl

— MGH (@OfficialMgh) February 24, 2019

Feel bad for Sarri, man.

— Scott Saunders (@_scottsaunders) February 24, 2019

​​...whilst others were happy to poke fun at the situation, finding it to be the most entertaining moment of the match.

Kepa Arrizabalaga suffers his first defeat as Chelsea manager

— Mark Jones (@Mark_Jones86) February 24, 2019

Arrizabalaga has inspired me.

Point blank refusing to go to the 4pm meeting in work tomorrow.

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) February 24, 2019

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I haven't seen Maurizio Sarri that angry since Tesco Express ran out of Malboro Reds.

— Jonny Sharples (@JonnyGabriel) February 24, 2019

​​The implications for both Kepa and Sarri could be serious, with Sarri's tenure at Stamford Bridge shaky even before the match. However, if the Chelsea hierarchy choose to back the Italian manager, Kepa could be punished for his insubordination by losing his place in the starting XI.

Source : 90min