Petr Cech Makes Chelsea Return in PL2 Clash With Tottenham

Petr Cech made his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt since 2015 on Monday night as he lined up against Tottenham in Premier League 2.

The legendary keeper, now 38, has worked behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge as a technical and performance advisor since his 2019 retirement. He was registered as a player on his return to the club, and was even included in their Premier League squad this season, though only as a precaution.

But it seems he has been keeping himself fit and sharp. With regular under-23s keeper Lucas Bergstrom playing for the under-18s on Saturday, the Blues youth side needed some experienced relief. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Cech, who has kept his hand in during first-team training alongside his off-field role, was asked to step in at Kingsmeadow, and it seems he didn’t need much convincing.

He might be twice the age of half of his new teammates, but iconic helmet and all, he took to the pitch for a mini-London derby…and conceded within five minutes.

The Blues team also featured the incongruous Danny Drinkwater, whose only game-time this season has come in PL2 and the EFL Trophy, despite being 30 years old.

It was Cech’s first appearance for Chelsea since 2015, when he controversially joined neighbours Arsenal after falling out with Jose Mourinho. He had made 494 appearances for the Blues and went on to make a further 139 at the Emirates before the 2019 Europa League final signalled the end of his legendary playing career.

…or so we thought.

talkSPORT have suggested that Cech’s appearance was motivated by the club’s desire to get some minutes into his gloves just in case he does have to return to the first-team squad at some stage. As things stand, Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero and prodigy Karlo Ziger all sit ahead of him in the pecking order, so that doesn’t seem hugely likely to come to pass, but you can never say never.

Or maybe you can, actually, because it’s now 2-0 to Tottenham.