Illan Meslier has admitted his last minute save for Leeds United against Leicester City is a moment every goalkeeper dreams of.
Meslier was speaking to Leeds supporter and professional darts player Luke Humphries on Sky Sports, as he made the trip down to Thorp Arch to host a mini darts tournament with some of the squad.
It has been a tough 12 – 18 months for Meslier at Leeds but he has started to rediscover some of his best form under Daniel Farke this season.
And he produced one of his most important moments in a Leeds shirt earlier this month in stoppage time of the 1-0 win away at Leicester.
For 94 minutes, Leeds reduced Leicester to not a single shot on target until Abdul Fatawu was able to locate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at the back post, who steered a header towards the top corner.
However, from almost underneath his own crossbar, Meslier was somehow able to claw it out to preserve Leeds’ lead, and put an end to Leicester’s nine-match winning run.
Meslier admits Leicester save was a ‘dream’
Reflecting on his crucial save, Meslier admitted that it was a moment every ‘keeper ‘dreams of’, particularly in such a huge top of the table clash.
He said: “Absolutely, it’s something like as a ‘keeper we always dream of, making a save in the last minute to save the win. It was a great feeling with a clean sheet against the leader of the table. It was a tough game but we fight as a team, everybody ran for each teammate.”
This must’ve been a huge boost of confidence for Meslier as it is the sign of a top goalkeeper to make a save such as this having not had much to do during the game.
It also prompted Farke to come out and hail Meslier as ‘world class’ in his post-match interview, as well as the best goalkeeper in the division.
After such a difficult past few months at Leeds, hopefully this is the moment that really kick starts his career once again.
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