How Jordan Pickford used funny faces and colour coding to repel Manchester City's Erling Haaland from the spot

Jordan Pickford has a deserved reputation for attention to detail, and his penalty save against Erling Haaland during Everton's draw at Manchester City in the Premier League only served to enhance it. A key detail was revealed to show just how Pickford had prepared to deal with any spot-kick that he might face against Pep Guardiola's men - and the Toffees keeper enlisted other methods too.

Jordan Pickford called upon his considerable box of tricks as he repelled Erling Haaland's penalty on Boxing Day in the Premier League.

Everton travelled to Manchester City on Boxing Day, and Bernardo Silva’s early first-half opener was cancelled out by Iliman Ndiaye’s clever finish.

The two teams came back out for the second half, with City’s best chance falling to Norwegian striker Haaland.

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Everton’s left-back Vitaly Mykolenko had fouled Savinho inside the area, gifting Haaland the chance to put his side into the lead from the spot.

At this point, Pickford sought to get into his opponent's head, jumping up and down, sticking out his tongue and making faces in a bid to cause a distraction.

And as Haaland stepped up, the usually prolific frontman failed to convert, with Pickford diving to his right, as a great save repelled the low effort.

Pickford

Image credit: Getty Images

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A photograph then emerged afterwards, showing the England goalkeeper’s bottle had colour-coded information on City’s premier penalty-taker, as well as the preferences of Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden, indicating where they were most likely to send their strikes.

That save earned Everton a potentially vital point, in 15th spot in the league table, as signs of their early-season strife start to lessen under manager Sean Dyche.

Pickford has form for doing such homework in the past - most famously at tournaments with England, including the 2024 European Championships where his water bottle included similar information on every Swiss penalty taker as the two sides' quarter-final went to penalties.

That included City defender Manuel Akanji, with Pickford duly saving his kick as England progressed.

Pickford has also saved from Anthony Gordon this term, and he concluded this latest stop with a wink towards the forlorn Haaland.
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