Chelsea Lose Two Keepers in One Game

Petr Cech, arguably the finest goalkeeper in world football, was stretchered off after a dramatic first minute collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt at the Madeski Stadium and subsequently transferred from a local hospital to the neuro-surgical unit at the renowned Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, where he underwent a ‘successful’ operation for a depressed fracture of the skull.

The 24 year old Cech faces a long lay-off after such a serious injury and with a crucial Champions League confrontation with old adversaries Barcelona looming, Chelsea are unlikely to be able to call upon his deputy Carlo Cudicini, who was also stretchered off in the 92nd minute of the Reading game, following a sickening mid-air collision with Ibrahima Sonko, from which he landed awkwardly. He was discharged from hospital on Saturday evening.

There is no clear evidence that the injury to Cech was anything other than a tragic accident and everyone in football will join Chelsea staff and supporters in wishing their goalkeeper a full recovery.