Chelsea star Thibaut Courtois has hailed Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech after he made an important save to keep the scores at 0-0 in the London derby.

Pedro had arguably the best chance of the game in the 22nd minute as Cesc Fabregas made a perfect pinpoint pass to let him through on goal. However, the Spaniard was denied by the quick reflexes of Cech, and this eventually resulted in a goalless draw.

Both Courtois and Cech were once in the ranks at Stamford Bridge and the Belgium international singled out his former teammate for making the vital interception which earned the Gunners a valuable point in west London.

Speaking on the club’s official website, he said:”Clean sheets are always nice but not when you draw 0-0, I would have preferred to concede a goal and win 2-1. It was a close game, both teams knew how the other played as we’ve played against each other a lot in the last few months.

I wouldn’t say we played a bad game. Arsenal played well tactically and pressed us. We had a couple of chances, especially the one when Pedro was one against one with Petr [Cech], but it was a good save from him.”

Thibaut Courtois has started every game for the Blues since the Community Shield clash against Arsenal, and he is likely to be given a rest in the League Cup outing in midweek. Summer signing Willy Caballero had been a regular feature for the Blues in their pre-season, and the 35-year-old is likely to earn his debut in the Cup tie against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

The Argentine has previously won the trophy for Manchester City via the penalty spot couple of years ago, and he will relish the prospect of making significant progress in the competition once more this term.