Everton’s Jordan Pickford was England’s penalty shoot-out hero at this stage of the World Cup last time out but thankfully his safe hands when the score was still goalless ensured Senegal were despatched within the regulation 90 minutes this time around.
Although the Everton keeper has even scored in a shootout since then in the relatively low pressure third place play-off of the UEFA Nations League against Switzerland in 2019 and this week declared he’d be ready to step up again if required – several of our commentators used to label them ‘lotteries’ like there wasn’t actually any skill involved – the nation was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief that the champions of Africa were ultimately despatched 3-0 with relative ease.
Less than 18 months ago, even a brace of saves from Pickford in the penalty shootout to decide the European Championship final at Wembley wasn’t enough to prevent defeat to Italy but the fact that Gareth Southgate’s side went on to cruise into a quarter-final showdown against reigning world champions France owes much to the crucial save the Blues man made when the game was still in the balance. Pickford looked alert from the start here, gathering an early effort from Boulaye Dia with ease and then coming out of his area to head the ball out under pressure from Saliou Ciss in a move that appeared assertive rather than panic-stricken.
