It is fashionable. 2021 has become the year in which goalkeepers are pulling chestnuts out of the fire for their forwards, scoring key goals for their respective goals, most of them 'in extremis. The last to join a list this year of five footballers among First, Second and Second Division B it was this friday Cristian Alvarez. The goalkeeper of Real Zaragoza rose to finish off a free kick in the 96th minute scoring the tying goal at two in the field of Lugo, a play that gave a key point to the Aragonese, since it not only allowed them to add that unit and the average, but also prevented the victory of a direct rival in the fight for salvation.
“It is a very strange emotion. It seems that he is still in a dream because everything happened quickly. I saw the ball go in and I don't even know how it was, really. I don't know if I hit him with the face or he hit the defender and he went in … I don't know what happened, man, “he said. Christian just after the meeting.
The funny thing is that it is not something new in this 2021. The first to achieve it was Marko dmitrovicAlthough in his case it was a penalty and was ultimately useless, as Atlético de Madrid came back from the game thanks to two “targets” from Luis Suárez (1-2). It was last January 21.
Another who recently experienced that strange feeling of achieving a goal for his team was Yassine Bono with Sevilla. As in the case of Cristian Álvarez, the Moroccan goalkeeper managed to rescue a point in Valladolid last (1-1) in the 93rd minute on March 20.
Apart from the first and second categories, two other feats of this style have taken place in Second B. On March 21, Dani Rebollo, Betis B goalkeeper, tied a game in Córdoba in the 92nd minute and two later, the Verdiblancos achieved the winning goal (1-2), achieving promotion to the First RFEF and opening the door to the fight to go up to the Smartbank League.
The last goalkeeper to score was Jose Suarez, from Nàstic and against Villarreal B. He ran the 96th minute of the game and put a final 2-2 that allows the grana to continue dreaming of promotion to the silver category.
Cristian Álvarez's goal against Lugo
Chilavert's precedent
In the case of Cristian Alvarez, it is the second goal in the history of Real Zaragoza scored by a goalkeeper. The first was marked by the charismatic Jose Luis Chilavert penalty on January 28, 1990 against Real Sociedad. It was in the 87th minute and meant the momentary 2-0. That goal is also remembered because the Zaragoza fans got lost in the celebration, they left the goal empty and Goikoetxea put the final 2-1 from the kickoff.