Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga appeared to publicly defy manager Maurizio Sarri and refuse to be substituted in the final moments of extra time in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The Spanish goalkeeper went down injured as penalties approached, seemingly struggling with cramp, prompting Sarri to ready Willy Caballero to come on.
But extraordinarily, the 24-year-old rose to his feet and waved away the substitution and insisted he was fit enough to continue.
Sarri's furious reaction - he threw a bottle to the ground and stormed off towards the dressing rooms before turning back - suggested his goalkeeper had purposefully ignored him but he later insisted it was down to a misunderstanding.
Sarri tried to sub off Chelsea's goalkeeper, Kepa...but he refused to leave, and Sarri flipped out 😳
(via )
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)
'A big misunderstanding,' Sarri said. 'I understood there was a problem and we needed a change, then I realised the situation when only the doctor arrived to the bench after four minutes.
'So it was a big misunderstanding. I understood that the goalkeeper had cramp, so for me was unable to go to the penalties. But the problem was not a cramp, so he was able to go to the penalties.'
He also played down the moment where he stormed away from the Chelsea bench,
'No, I needed only to return to be quiet,' he said. 'As i said the goalkeeper understood that I asked a change, for his physical problem, and he said that "I haven’t a physical problem", so he was right I think.'
Former Chelsea captain John Terry admitted he is fascinated to see how Sarri and Kepa respond in the coming days.
'The last thing the players want now is this. It's interesting what's going to happen now,' Terry told Sky Sports afterwards. 'He's brought an awful lot of pressure on himself hasn't he?'
Jamie Redknapp added: 'I've never seen anything like this in football before, just incredible.
'Caballero wants to come on, the manager wants to get him on. It's a nightmare, this is boiling over now. Caballero is brilliant at penalties as well... I feel for Sarri there, I really do.
'You've got to come off. This is a complete lack of respect for the manager. I feel so bad for the manager... I've never seen it before.'
Chelsea lost 4-3 on penalties after both sides settled for a barren draw in normal and extra in the Carabao Cup Final. During the shoot out, Chelsea's Jorginho had his penalty saved while David Luiz's spot kick hit the post.
-Dailymail