In a moment that will be spoken about for years to come, Alisson Becker became the sixth goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal in Liverpool’s 2-1 win against West Brom on Sunday.
The Reds simply had to win to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive. After battering the Baggies for about 80 minutes, it took a header from their No 1 to seal the three points.
Goalkeepers don’t tend to score too many goals. Obviously.
Interestingly, Alisson is the only goalkeeper to score a competitive goal in Liverpool’s near-130 year history (according to OptaJoe). Shamal George is undoubtedly raging at that particular statistic (if you know, you know).
But there were five others to do it in the Premier League before the Brazilian.
These are Peter Schmeichel, Brad Friedel, Paul Robinson, Tim Howard and Asmir Begovic.
Alisson the first keeper to score with a header
Alisson does become the first goalkeeper to score a header since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, however. This is also somewhat of a surprise, considering it is not that uncommon to see them getting into the box for late corners and they are often the tallest players on the pitch.
Schmeichel’s was an unaesthetic volley after coming up for a corner for Aston Villa against Everton in 2001.
Next up was Friedel three years later. His goal was an 89th-minute instinctive finish from a few yards out for Blackburn against Charlton. Somehow, he ended up on the losing side after the Addicks found an even later winner.
The first two goalie-goals in the Prem were actually the only two that were scored on purpose. The next three were aimless punts up the field that somehow found the back of the net.
Paul Robinson’s came in 2007 for Spurs against Watford. His freekick sailed over poor Ben Foster’s head.
Tim Howard managed to lob Adam Bogdan (haha) from his own box in Everton’s game against Bolton in 2012. Fun fact: David Ngog also found the net in that game. Trivia.
The most recent keeper to score a Premier League goal was Begovic for Stoke against Southampton in 2013. The Bosnian’s hoof broke the world record for the longest goal in football.
It is probably safe to say that Alisson’s header jumps to the top of the six-strong list in terms of quality.
With all the drama of the circumstances, the fact that his glancing header was one that any top striker would be proud of must not get overlooked.
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