5 of the most important saves in the history of club football
In a game where goals and goalscorers often grab all the credit and headlines, there have always been some legendary players tasked with the job of stopping them. Some of the best saves in the history of the game have often coincided with momentous occasions – from the saves made by Buffon to stop France running away with the World Cup in 2006 to several contributions by Peter Schmeichel in United’s treble-winning campaign that are impossible to explain even to this day.
The most important of them have often seen their side win continental glory or embark on unimaginably successful campaigns, and here’s a list of five of the best:
#5 David Seaman – Arsenal vs Sheffield United
With his side leading 1–0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup in 2003, David Seaman pulled off an incredible reflex save that would gain Arsenal a solitary goal victory and keep them on course to retain the trophy they won the previous year – a feat that hadn’t been achieved in twenty years.
It was a season they had lost their Premier League crown to Manchester United in spite of Wenger claiming in the pre-season that he felt they could go through the season undefeated.
The save and resultant victory in the tournament would inspire them to do just that – the famed invincibles would go through the next season of the Premier League unbeaten – built on the back of this one fantastic save.