After Arsenal won their quarter-final match against Crystal Palace in a dramatic penalty shoot-out, Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Maxence Lacroix’s penalty. Is Kepa Arrizabalaga the best goalkeeper for Penalty shootouts in the world right now? A total of 16 penalties were taken, and only one player missed, which helped Arsenal secure a place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.
It was the last quarter-final match before we got the fourth semi-finalist of the EFL Cup 2025/2026. Chelsea, Manchester City, and Newcastle United already booked their place in the last four. The Emirates Stadium, which is the home of Arsenal, was the venue for the match, and what a game of football we saw. Arsenal were dominating the match, and it went to penalties.
Also check out: Top 10 Best Premier League Players in 2025
Is Kepa Arrizabalaga the best goalkeeper for Penalty shootouts?
In the first half, it was all Arsenal as they kept the ball and had a possession of 79%. They had a total of 12 shots, and four of them were on target. Arsenal missed three big chances as Walter Benitez, the goalkeeper, was pulling off unbelievable saves. In 45 minutes, Palace just had 51 accurate passes. This shows how much Arsenal dominated the game in the first half.
Arsenal were doing everything right, but they just could not convert and score a goal. It was a corner in the 80th minute, and Saliba scored with his head, and later it went down as an own goal from the Crystal Palace defender, Maxence Lacroix. Eventually, it looked like Arsenal would see off the match, but just in the dying moments, Marc Guehi scored a goal, and the match went down to penalties as there was no extra time.
Both goalkeepers had no idea what was happening as they could not save the first 15 shots from the spot kick, as every player had the ball in the back of the net for their team. It was the eighth penalty, and Maxence Lacroix came in and missed it. This was surely not his day as Kepa became the hero in the game. Basically, this was his first save in the match. Now Arsenal will play a two-legged semi-final, and it will be against Chelsea.
