After Chelsea's goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, was forced off with a fractured jaw against Everton, 21-year-old Mike Penders had been thrown into the deep end, with all three games in the past week having something different riding on them.
Although his full debut against Tottenham did not go to plan, handing Roberto De Zerbi's side the lead, after punching the ball into his own net from a corner, but until his mistake Penders was one of Chelsea's more impressive players.
Post-match, Alonso had Penders' back, talking about supporting such a young goalkeeper and helping him recover from a disastrous moment.
"It’s part of the business; you need to deal with mistakes, and we keep confidence in Mike, and he will be in goal against Liverpool."
"We win and we lose together and it’s part of the job to deal with mistakes, myself as well as everyone."
But across the last two games, Penders has done more than redeem himself, and would have been the hero of the penalty shootout against Liverpool if it weren't for Emanuel Emegha having his penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
But just three days after the disappointment of penalties, Penders and Chelsea had to pick themselves up for the visit of Manchester United, with the Belgian returning to the ground that had happy and not so happy memories for him.
However, he looked far more comfortable from the outset, settling into the game well and making several good early saves to build his confidence. It was his stoppage-time effort to deny Bryan Mbeumo that really caught the headlines, though. With the Manchester United forward striking the ball perfectly, the goalkeeper got a fingertip to it, pushing it onto the crossbar to preserve his clean sheet.
A lot can change in a week for Penders, after his howler against Spurs to keeping a clean sheet the next shows that sort of resillient person he is, and Alonso praised Penders' mentality and his performances across the last two games.
"Not just today, I think that in Liverpool he was really solid, he had a very good performance, very stable for a keeper and today he has shown good level. Another clean sheet, the second one in three games and we need to keep going. Mike has overcome the difficult moment that we got here last Saturday and this is part of the development of a goalkeeper, of any player."
Whilst Alonso hinted that Emi Martinez might return before the international break, wearing a face mask, until then, Penders is Chelsea's number one and possibly an argument that when the Argentine does return, he sits on the bench for Penders if the Belgian continues to impress.
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