Community Shield: Thibaut Courtois' nightmare penalty for Chelsea vs Arsenal in 2017

Thibaut Courtois loves a penalty.

After all, the Real Madrid shot-stopper made headlines around the world earlier this year when he denied Lionel Messi from the spot in what proved to be a crucial moment on the way to Champions League glory.

However, what if we were to tell you that Courtois doesn’t just like facing and saving penalties, but that he also likes taking them for good measure?

Now, the world of goalkeepers taking penalties is often reserved for mavericks of the sport such as Rogerio Ceni, Hans-Jörg Butt and José Luis Chilavert, but there are exceptions to the rule.

And that’s especially the case when it comes to penalty shootouts where you don’t necessarily need to be team’s best taker from 12 yards to stand up and take the responsibility.

Over the years, we’ve seen the likes of Jordan Pickford and Joe Hart successfully try their hand at taking spot-kicks in shootouts that haven’t necessarily gone 11 rounds, but simply when they backed themselves.

And you can include Courtois in that list because he also stepped up to the plate for Chelsea during a shootout against Paris Saint-Germain at the 2015 International Champions Cup.

The result? Emphatic, with Courtois delivering what could easily be described as a perfect penalty by way of thundering the ball so far into the top left-hand corner that it even got tangled in the net for a second.

So, when the opportunity arose for Courtois to take a penalty for Chelsea in a shootout that – depending on your definitions – could be considered to be ‘friendly’ once again, he grabbed it with both hands.

With the 2017 Community Shield having reached 90 minutes with the scores locked at 1-1, Chelsea and Arsenal went all the way to penalties in what looked like a perfect