Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders had a significantly better Saturday compared to his previous one.

Chelsea beat Manchester United in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, with Penders able to keep a clean sheet following a 2-0 win. Last weekend, he lost his clean sheet after punching the ball into the back of his own net before Mathys Tel doubled Tottenham Hotspur’s lead in their 2-0 triumph over their London rivals.

Penders has been filling in for Emiliano Martinez after he broke his jaw away at Everton last month, and the young goalkeeper seems to have recovered from his gaffe against Spurs. Martinez could return to action sooner than expected, but Penders has shown in his last two appearances that there is probably no need for his teammate to be rushed back.

Other than that slip-up in the Tottenham defeat, Penders has been pretty much perfect. One of the saves he made against United is undoubtedly going to go down as one of the saves of the season.

In total, Penders made three saves. The 21-year-old did not make any high claims, but he did make two successful run-outs, according to Sofascore.

Compared to his performance against Tottenham, his passing was also much better. For example, Penders completed 19 out of 25 passes on Saturday, giving him a passing accuracy of 76%. Against Tottenham, the Belgian only had a passing accuracy of 53% after completing just 20 of the 38 passes he attempted.

His all-round distribution was better. Penders had a long ball accuracy of 40% compared to 22% against Spurs, although it must be mentioned he attempted far more long-range passes last weekend. Nevertheless, distribution is so important for a modern-day goalkeeper, so it is good to see overall improvement there.

Sooner or later, Penders will replace Martinez as Chelsea’s No.1. The club have high hopes for the former Genk star and have already shown a lot of faith in him.

It is early days and we have already seen both the good and the bad from Penders. But it has mostly been good, and with Penders still just 21 years of age, the best is yet to come.