Illan Meslier made a superb double save on Sunday to deny Philippe Coutinho and keep Leeds level in their friendly against Aston Villa. Then BT Sport, the absolute b*stards, oversold it somewhat and sent us down a shot-stopping rabbit hole on the sunniest day of the year…
Yeah…could be the greatest double-save of all-time to be fair
👏 Illan Meslier
📹 @LUFC pic.twitter.com/x0DKmU4pSn
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) July 17, 2022
Excluding the ones we’ve forgotten or couldn’t find videos for, here are the five best double saves that sprang to mind…
Wojciech Szczesny – Liverpool v ARSENAL, 2012.
Meslier’s double drop wasn’t even the best by a Premier League keeper stopping a Prem striker’s penalty before keeping out the rebound too.
That rather niche award goes to Wojciech Szczesny, who kept out Duyt Kuyt twice in Arsenal’s 2-1 win at Anfield in March 2012.
The Arsenal keeper cleaned up his own mess after bringing down Luis Suarez. With Liverpool having already missed five penalties that season, Kuyt grabbed the ball and sent it to Szczesny’s right but the Poland stopper read it and parried back into play. Presented with a second opportunity, Kuyt aimed for the opposite side and though he shanked his attempt, it still took an incredible change of direction from Szczesny to get across and keep the scores level.
For three minutes at least before Laurent Koscielny sliced hopelessly into his own net. But Arsenal turned it around, winning thanks to a stoppage-time strike from Robin van Persie.
Jerzy Dudek – LIVERPOOL V AC Milan, 2005.
This was hardly the best double save of all time for technique or athleticism, but it might have been the most important.
Liverpool were three minutes from a Champions League final penalty shoot-out having clawed back a three-goal deficit in Istanbul. But all that good work looked set to go to waste when Andriy Shevchenko rose to meet a Serginho cross.
Dudek, retreating deeper to his line, blocked the striker’s powerful header but the ball bounced up two yards in front of goal, perfectly into the path of Shevchenko, still on the run. With Dudek on his knees, a winner for Milan looked inevitable, certainly when Shevchenko made a clean contact, thundering the rebound towards the gaping goal.
But Dudek raised his arm and the ball tw*tted against his hand. Really, it ought to have taken his fingers off but instead, from…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…