In soccer, red cards are a common thing, and many times goalkeepers are also sent off. But normally most of the time when this situation arises the team has enough substitutions to bring on the second-choice keeper but always this is not the case.
In the recent Seria A match between Ac Milan and Genoa, in the seventh minute of added time, Milan keeper Mike Maignan got sent off after a challenge on a Genoa player. With no substitutions left, all was in the hands of the 37-year-old striker to pick up the reigns and be the goalie for the remainder of the match.
The match took another turn as the Genoa keeper was also sent off. Still, the game-defining moment came during the dying embers of the game when France’s all-time top goalscorer Olivier Giroud made a last-minute save as he fists the ball away from the goal and Genoa player Goerge Puskas which gave Milan the victory and all three points taking them to the top of the Seria A.
Fans online absolutely enjoyed this moment of madness while leaving no stone unturned to troll Onana who has been horrible for Manchester United so far this season and has fewer clean sheets than Giroud.
The fans reacted by saying “Olivier Giroud is the best”, “Giroud can be better than Onana”, “What a save”, and “Still a better keep than Onana”, “That’s unfair! We all know Giroud is the goat”
Clean sheets in October
Onana: 0
Giroud: 1 pic.twitter.com/VDjzg5ikFO— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) October 7, 2023
Many players have been called to the duty of being a goalkeeper in emergencies but very few have been able to save their team and make crucial saves like Giroud has done. This performance has surely cemented his place in Milan folklore.
Other outfield players who have played as goalkeepers
Many times various teams had to field their outfield players on the pitch between the sticks due to the exhaustion of subs or unavailability of second-choice keepers. Needless to say, these incidents have always been funny and bring joy to soccer fans as they can see players who are good with their feet try and do something with their hands.
Another time a striker came in goal to save his team was Harry Kane back in 2014 versus Asteras in 2014 in the Europa League but it was not all good as Kane fumbled an easy save which led to a goal. Another English player who played in goal way back in 2006 was Chelsea captain John Terry vs Reading and fair to say that Chelsea fans were very much pleased with their leader’s performance.
Harry Kane has more minutes as a goalkeeper in Europe than Aaron Ramsdale 🤣 pic.twitter.com/U2dkH2z6AS
— Devinee🌟 (@everythinDevine) May 18, 2022
Former Manchester United player John O’Shea also became a temporary goalkeeper back in 2007 against Tottenham. Joining O’Shea is legendary defender Rio Ferdinand who took the gloves vs Portsmouth in 2008. Kyle Walker in 2019 had a field day between the posts against Atalanta in the Champions League.
Wait is that Dani Alves playing goalkeeper for PSG???!! pic.twitter.com/bxQWpzshl6
— GOAL (@goal) February 6, 2018
But by far the best goalkeeping performance by an outfield player surely goes to Phil Jagielka who saved his team Sheffield United from a star-studded Arsenal back in 2006 as the defender made some crucial saves.
In finals normally these incidents don’t happen as much but in 2018, Dani Alves became the goalkeeper for PSG in their win against Sochaux in the French Cup Final in 2019.