Special Feature: 10 greatest goalkeeping saves of all time – Part 2
After Bruce’s marvellous F.A Cup semi-final save against Everton, comes Peter Schmeichel’s brilliant parry against Rapid Vienna in the UEFA Champions League for Manchester United. Peter was Manchester United’s captain for their treble
winning year of 1999, a year in which the English giants captured the F.A Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Champions League. It was a historic year for Manchester United but also a memorable one for Schmeichel, who announced his retirement from English football
after the European Cup final against Bayern Munich.
However, the Danish keepers save that makes it to this list is not from the 1999 European campaign but the 1996 one, a season where Manchester United were thriving under the influence of Eric Cantona. The Frenchmen along with Sir
Alex Ferguson was Manchester United’s leader but it was Schmeichel’s save that pulled the Red Devils through the match against Vienna. The eastern European giants were dominating in the match until their striker Rene Wagner’s header was smacked away by Peter
in a group stage match for the English champions.
Schmeichel’s heroics gave new strength to his team mates, who went on to carry their club to an unforgettable two goals to nil over Rapid Vienna. Eric Cantona and a young Ryan Giggs got goals for Ferguson’s team as United marched
on.
Schmeichel’s save is followed up by Petr Cech’s save for Czech Republic in the European Championships of 2004. Czech’s came to the tournament with a ferociously talented team which include the likes of Pavel Nedved and Rosicky along
with Koller. In their group stage match against Netherlands, Cech was on form as he became a wall between the Dutch attack and the Czech goal. Peter’s finest moment of the game came when he deprived John Heitinga of a goal by pulling of a gravity defying save.
Cech’s instant of boldness turned the match in Czech Republic’s favour as the eastern European nation went on to win the match by three goals to two. In doing so they qualified for the next stage of the tournament without even losing
a single match during the group stages of the competition.
The Big Dane also known as Peter Schmeichel makes his comeback on this list due to his save against Newcastle United for Manchester United in the English Premier League. The save in question was voted Premier League’s best save of
the last decade in 2003 and right so. Schmeichel was at his acrobatic best when he denied John Barnes what looked like a probable goal in the making. It was perhaps the best goalkeeping moment in Peter’s long career as a shot stopper and not only did it earn
him extra ordinary praise, it also sealed his spot as Premier League’s most impressive goalkeeper ever.
However, the most impressive save ever made in the history of the F.A Cup was the one which was pulled off by Sunderland’s Jim Montgomery. It was Jim’s best moment in a red and white shirt as Sunderland were leading the match by a
single goal when he made two good saves in quick succession. His guile in goal for Sunderland was able to get them an unlikely F.A Cup win over Leeds United, who were favourites before the match under Don Revie to win the prestigious English cup competition.
The scene was an F.A Cup semi-final, the teams were Arsenal and Sheffield United, the venue was Old Trafford and the man was David Seaman in 2003. The save is still remembered today as “the claw save”, the English national team goalkeeper
back then, Seaman absolutely robbed Paul Peschisolido by clawing away his shot from almost the goal line inside the Arsenal goal. The save was made more special by the fact that Seaman was making his 1000th appearance for Arsenal in goal. Thanks
to Seaman’s magic, Arsenal were able to progress onto the final match which they won by a singular goal.
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