Chelsea 'More Together Than Ever' After Kepa Sub Incident, Says Willy Caballero

Willy Caballero has said Chelsea are "more together than ever" after reacting to scenes at Wembley Stadium on Sunday when goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to come off in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

Kepa, 24, was dropped for Wednesday's Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday as reserve stopper Caballero helped see the Blues to a 2-0 win. Manager Maurizio Sarri's authority was questioned in the aftermath of the incident, but Caballero said the Blues have been united as a result, per the Telegraph's Matt Law:

“First of all it was a strange situation that everybody watched. I had to live with it, we had to live with it. But everybody that was involved in what happened learnt something.

"This just brings something good in the atmosphere of the team, that's the good news, that we went through this. We passed the last few days in good harmony, trying to talk about things and how to beat Spurs, and we did it. Of course, it (the Kepa incident) was probably very important because it was in a final, but it doesn’t matter. We improved a lot and we are more together than ever."

Chelsea's £75 million signing was also fined one week's wages, worth around £190,000 per week, after he defied Sarri and refused to come off during extra time in their 0-0 stalemate against City, via Sky Sports:

Caballero, 37, was ready to replace his team-mate, who appeared to be suffering from cramp just before Sarri called for his replacement. Manchester City put four past Kepa to win the shootout by one penalty.

Match of the Day highlighted that the Argentinian has excelled when it comes to saving spot-kicks in the League Cup decider:

Pedro scored Chelsea's first against Tottenham before an own goal from Spurs defender Kieran Trippier made certain of the result with five minutes left. That being said, Caballero didn't face a shot on target in the 90 minutes, per WhoScored.com.

Sarri said after the midweek win that Kepa had "paid" for his error and was still Chelsea's No. 1, per Gerard Brand of Sky Sports.

Speaking to BT Sport, Caballero praised Kepa for his response in the days following the incident at Wembley and said the Spaniard had supported him throughout:

Sixth-placed Chelsea moved within seven points of Spurs in third thanks to Wednesday's win, while Arsenal are just three points ahead in fourth.

The Blues travel to Fulham on Sunday, and Caballero's latest performance might have given Sarri some cause to contemplate his selection, for superstition's sake if nothing else, per Squawka:

Patience will be required as Sarri needs time to implement his style of football at Stamford Bridge, with the team having become accustomed to a much different approach with his predecessor, Antonio Conte.

Kepa's controversial decision to rebel against his boss may have seemed a disaster at the time, but Caballero has suggested it could be the catalyst that brings Chelsea together for the end-of-season run-in.