Football
ESPN staff 8y

Petr Cech breaks David James' Premier League clean sheets record

Petr Cech broke the Premier League record for clean sheets as Arsenal claimed a 2-0 win at home against Bournemouth on Monday.

Cech surpassed the 169 clean sheets kept by former England keeper David James, who played for clubs including Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham, Manchester City and Portsmouth.

Cech, who joined Arsenal in the summer after 11 years with Chelsea, was reported to have broken James' record earlier this season but he clarified on his Twitter account that four of his clean sheets could not be counted because he had not completed the full match.

The Czech Republic international wrote on Sept. 13: "I have 171 Premier league clean sheets in total but can't count 4 because I didn't play full 90 minutes."

The 33-year-old finally bettered James' tally on Monday, however, as Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with the comfortable win over struggling Bournemouth.

"It is not every day you break the record of the best league in the world. I must say at the end of the game I was proud," Cech said. "I was really pleased we won the game as well because after the game we had at Southampton we had to bounce back in style.

Cech admitted he was watching the clock tick down at the end of the game, not so much because of his record, but because of the importance to the team to keep a clean sheet.

"We concentrated until the last second because if even if you concede in the last three minutes then there is added time then it can be a very long five minutes," he said. "There can be a mistake and then you can lose the game and you need to concentrate from the start to the finish.

"It cannot be easy sometimes when you are in control and you are 2-0 up and the opposition is pushing for that goal. You have to make sure you are professional, organised and do the right things and we knew how to do it."

^ Back to Top ^