Chelsea don't miss Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, Jose Mourinho says

Horror show: Cech endured a nightmare debut at Emirates Stadium
Julian Finney/Getty Images
Simon Johnson10 August 2015

Jose Mourinho believes Asmir Begovic has already proved that Petr Cech won't be missed at Chelsea.

Begovic impressed on his official debut for the club, having joined from Stoke for £8m this summer, to help secure a point in the 2-2 draw against Swansea on Saturday.

The Bosnia international came on with 36 minutes remaining after first choice Thibaut Courtois was sent off for a last ditch challenge on Bafetimbi Gomis.

Begovic will now fill in for the suspended Courtois at Manchester City next week, but his performance was all the more timely as Cech, the man he replaced at Stamford Bridge, had a disastrous start to his Arsenal career in their 2-0 home defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

Speaking after the Swansea game, Mourinho said: “We don’t miss Petr. We’ve got a good keeper, the problem with Petr is not that we miss him because we have two excellent keepers.

“Thibaut and Asmir are two fantastic keepers. My club did very well by getting a keeper on time and not on the August 31 because if my club gives me a keeper on August 31 then we have a problem not just for Swansea, but also for the next match."

Mourinho also issued his strongest hint yet that he felt referee Michael Oliver was wrong to send Courtois off for his challenge on Gomis.

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While there was no doubt it was a penalty, which led to Swansea's second equaliser of the match, it looked like Gary Cahill was tracking back quick enough for it not to be considered an 'obvious goal-scoring opportunity'.

Mourinho was trying his utmost not to talk about the incident immediately after the game, but reflecting on possibility of Begovic starting at Manchester City, he added: "Unless the people understand that it’s not a red card and they clear the suspension."

When asked if he would appeal because he though Cahill was in a covering position, he said: “This is for you, not just for me."

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Significantly he also replied tersely to a question over whether he expected there would be more teams like Swansea who will be more motivated to beat Chelsea because they're the defending champions.

He said: “I expect the referees to do their job well, that’s what I expect."

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