Chelsea FC have confirmed that their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, who took a blow to the head in Sunday’s home fixture with Arsenal, has received the all clear.
A heavy blow to the head received in a collision with Alexis Sánchez saw the giant goalkeeper laid flat out on his back, but the player had been well enough to continue until 15 minutes later he was removed from the field with blood trickling from his right ear. The club, in a statement on Monday lunch time, confirmed that this was a superficial cut, and nothing more serious:
Chelsea Football Club can confirm Thibaut Courtois went to hospital during our Premier League game against Arsenal yesterday [Sunday] for precautionary tests on a head injury. Those tests came back all clear.
Thibaut was treated for a minor cut to his ear and was released from hospital last night. He is expected to report for international duty later this week.
This will be good news for Chelsea, who sit at the top of the Premier League table: Courtois has been in excellent form; his 6’6″ frame making him an extremely effective shot-stopper who is equally impressive coming and collecting crosses.
Petr Cech, long time number one at Chelsea, deputised for Courtois on Sunday, and showed he was not short of form, either, meaning Jose Mourinho has a nice problem in which of his talented goalkeepers to select when the Premier League returns following the international break on 18 October.
