Vasilis Barkas played a major role as FC Utrecht shocked Eredivisie high-flyers AZ Alkmaar in the KNVB Cup.
The duo - who are separated by eight points in the league standings - went head to head with a place in the quarter-final of the domestic cup up for grabs. Alkmaar are riding high in second spot in the league table just two points off the summit while Utrecht are down in seventh spot after 20 games.
The two sides were paired in the last 16 of the cup and Celtic loanee Barkas continued his turnaround in form from his time in Scotland with a big penalty save late on in the 90 minutes. He got down low to his left to push away an effort from goal - although the hosts would level just seconds later from the next attack. That forced the game into an extra 30 minutes and it was the visitors who struck again before holding on for a big result.
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Hoops flop Barkas has played 23 times in all competitions this season in the Netherlands as he continues to recapture his confidence and the kind of form that had Neil Lennon shell out a big fee for his services from AEK Athens back in July 2020. The Greece international is under contract at Parkhead until 2024 with his club goalkeeping coach Harald Wapenaar admitting back in November a return to Ange Postecoglou's side will be on the cards due to the cost of a deal to keep him.
Wapenaar told RTV Utrecht : "That is a utopia. He has made a transfer for about eight million from AEK to Celtic.
"When I saw that he was available and saw his data on the internet, I advised Jordi Zuidam (Utrecht head of scouting) to take him.
"I think he's feeling great, and he's also performing very well. The first impression was that the Greek would be a line keeper. But we have seen that this guy also takes his balls outside the five meters.
"I think they (Utrecht goalkeepers) had to get used to me. I think I train differently than the average goalkeeper coaches they were used to. I like to train hard and surprise them every day."
Speaking after the win over Alkmaar, boss Michael Silberbauer's said: “It was a tough match. We expected before the game that it would be a different game than the previous one. Today's pot asked for something different.
"It was a much more compact match than the last one and that makes it more difficult. I can only say that I am very proud of the mentality that the boys have shown."
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