The secret revealed behind Penders' United clean sheet

Stamford Bridge has always been a fortress for Chelsea, having the fourth-best all-time home Premier League record, and so far this season has been no different, only losing one of their five home games under Xabi Alonso this campaign, and goalkeeper Mike Penders has come up with a new way of keeping the ball out of his net.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the 21-year-old Belgian smeared Vaseline on his goalposts against Manchester United; he would also use the substance to use on his gloves to add grip to them. He would do this especially before corners, and was seen rubbing his hands with it before claiming a Bruno Fernandes corner, with the Vaseline, which he would stash high up towards his crossbar.

Whilst this method might sound counterintuitive, putting a typically slippery substance onto your hands, might mean that your grip might be lessened, and being perfectly legal within the football laws. Many believe that Penders might have learned this savvy technique from Swedish goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson, when the two were together at Strasbourg last season.

Johnsson has an old YouTube channel, with his most popular video getting 54,000 views about the benefits of Vaseline, after being uploaded in 2021, while he was at Copenhagen.

It is unknown if Penders used the same method against Tottenham at home last month, in which he unfortunately punched the ball into his own net from a corner, but since then, he has impressed against Liverpool and Manchester United, in the absence of Emiliano Martinez.

Although it was not just Johnsson who used Vaseline to his advantage, ex-Watford and Manchester United keeper, Ben Foster, revealed on his podcast that it is not an unusual technique to see goalkeepers use.

It’s hard to explain, but if we were in a training session, I could tell you if one of us had Vaseline on our gloves, because as soon as I grab the ball, it does make it grippier.

The Vaseline was put to good use against United, especially tipping Bryan Mbeumo's late shot with a world-class save onto the crossbar to keep his clean sheet intact, and could and possibly should have been the hero of the Anfield penalty shootout, after saving Ryan Gravenberch's penalty, but Chelsea were to be knocked out.

As mentioned, the hack is entirely legal. IFAB – football’s lawmakers, have no rule against Vaseline or any other petroleum jelly being applied to goalkeepers’ gloves in their regulations on player equipment.