There's certain things that occur rarely in football matches that excite punters more than any bit of skill. A dog on the pitch, a referee falling over, and not least, an outfield player going in goal.
In Manchester City's Champions League tie against Atalanta, that very thing happened. With first-choice goalkeeper Ederson having gone off at half-time as a precaution having picked up a knock, Claudio Bravo was afforded the chance to go in goal.
And then, the Chilean stopper rushed out of his goal and scythed down Atalanta attacker Josip Ilicic. Free-kick on the edge of the box but worse still, a red card.
VAR is a joke, how was this not overturned, Ilicic clearly leaves his leg in and kicks Bravo pic.twitter.com/zYRdrPvgmx
— Big Sead (@Big_SeadK) November 6, 2019
With their substitute keeper sent-off, Pep Guardiola turned to his most-trusted lieutenant, Kyle Walker, to don the gloves. Walker was the hero as City fought back to win against Southampton at the weekend. Those heroics pale into insignificance when you're trying to emulate John O'Shea.
Kyle Walker's inspiration pic.twitter.com/JrRKE2br98
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) November 6, 2019
The substitution was delayed for a number of minutes, seemingly because Manchester City didn't want to take off an outfield player. Eventually, they hooked Riyad Mahrez, who showcased his annoyance coming off the pitch, possibly because he wanted to go in nets and become the Algerian Steve Staunton.
Walker didn't have much to do, apart from deal with the free-kick which Bravo conceded. As you can see, he dealt with it with suitable aplomb.
Kyle Walker.
Comes on organising the wall.
Spills the free. Gathers.
What a keeper.#UCL #VMSport pic.twitter.com/1zcc5wbXkO— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 6, 2019
He also got involved in a spot of time-wasting.
Kyle Walker with a classic bit of time wasting in goal.
😂😂😂#UCL #VMSport pic.twitter.com/wQBYIGI5fC— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 6, 2019
It's hard to gauge whether Walker has a future in goals, but with Scott Carson as your third-choice goalkeeper, maybe the right-back isn't the worst option to have.
