Xabi Alonso said Friday that Sunday would bring the final decision on Emiliano Martinez at Sunderland. The decision was not which of two available goalkeepers would start. When Chelsea published the team for the Stadium of Light, Mike Penders was named in goal for a fourth straight Premier League start, Teddy Sharman-Lowe was the substitute goalkeeper, and Martinez was not in the squad at all.

What Friday's answers actually said

Alonso told reporters that Chelsea's doctors had already given Martinez the green light to play in a specialist protective mask after the jaw fracture and concussion he suffered against Everton on Oct. 17. "He is still getting used to his mask, for sure. It isn't the most comfortable thing but he has trained for almost a whole week with it on," the head coach said, according to BBC Sport. "There is no obstruction to his view or anything like that, and we already have the green light from the doctors for him to play in it."

The club's own account of the same briefing separated that clearance from the starting job. "It is very good that Emi has made a great effort to be back and is ahead of the plan to be part of the team. So, tomorrow we will check and then on Sunday we will take the final decision," Alonso said, via chelseafc.com.

Those sentences created a clear expectation heading into Chelsea's last Premier League match before the international break. Medical clearance to play in the mask, and being ahead of the plan to be part of the team, pointed toward Martinez at least being available as an option. It did not guarantee him the start, because Penders had held the shirt for three games. It did suggest he would be in the 20.

What the team sheet actually says

Chelsea's official lineup note put the outcome in one sentence: "Mike Penders continues in goal, with Emi Martinez not in the squad."

The starting 11 is Penders; Marco Palestra, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Pep Chavarria; Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson; Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto and Morgan Rogers, with Caicedo wearing the captain's armband. The substitutes are Sharman-Lowe, Aaron Anselmino, Malo Gusto, Valentin Barco, Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Geovany Quenda, Estevao, Emmanuel Emegha and Danny Welbeck.

BBC Sport's independently published list matches those 20 names. Martinez does not appear on it. The Evening Standard likewise reported that he "is not in the matchday squad" after training in the mask at Cobham this week.

Alonso made two changes from the side that beat Manchester United 2-0 last Saturday. Chavarria comes in for Josh Acheampong, who is not in today's squad, and Palestra is expected to move to the right after playing left back a week ago. Henderson returns to the starting 11; Estevao, who started against United, is among the substitutes. Anselmino is on the bench for the first time this season, the club said.

Penders, 21, first came on after Martinez collided with Jarrad Branthwaite and left on a stretcher in Chelsea's Oct. 17 win at Everton. He then started the next three Premier League matches. Sunday makes it four.

The other Sunday test went the other way

Caicedo had been the other open call after Alonso described discomfort following the United match and stressed it was "more than" a simple calf issue. He starts and captains against a Sunderland side that sits last in the table with five points from nine games. Chelsea are fourth with 16 points from nine.

Alonso had already warned against treating the hosts as a free hit. "It doesn't matter about their position in the table, they deserve more points than they have managed to get," he said Friday, according to BBC Sport. "They are a team that do many good things, so it won't be easy for us."

Chelsea did not issue a new medical bulletin with the lineup. The document itself is the update: Penders starts, Sharman-Lowe is the reserve, and Martinez is not among the 20. Doctors cleared the mask. Alonso reserved Sunday for the final call. When that call arrived, he did not merely keep Penders in goal while the No. 1 sat ready in the mask. He left Martinez out of the matchday squad, with Sharman-Lowe as cover, in Chelsea's last Premier League match before the international break.