Loris Karius’ wonder save against Harry Kane has us questioning everything
Just when you think football is running out of storylines, something happens to make you question everything you thought you knew again.
Loris Karius. You remember him. Harry Kane, you don’t need any reminders. All common logic would point towards a goal-fest for the Ballon d’Or frontrunner against the former Liverpool flop when they crossed paths on the pitch.
They’d actually only faced off once before at club level, in a Premier League game in February 2018. Kane scored a stoppage-time penalty to snatch a 2-2 draw for Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool.
But on Saturday, some eight years later, they met again. After helping Schalke to promotion from the German second tier last season, Karius was selected in goal for their Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich.
You feared for him, you really did. He has recovered some dignity in recent years, eager to not be forever defined by those mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final. But facing as potent a striker as Kane appeared a frightening prospect.
And yet Karius came away with a clean sheet as Schalke held Bayern to a goalless draw. Better still, it was a clean sheet he fought for.
With about five minutes to go, Kane launched a rocket of a shot from outside the box in a bid to break the deadlock.
It looked to be flying towards the top corner, but Karius had other ideas. At full stretch, he was able to push it behind for a corner.
Some might say it was one for the cameras, though we’d argue they need to brighten up a bit. Besides, anyone of a Schalke persuasion will be mightily grateful for his acrobatic save, which helped them hold on to their first point against Bayern since February 2017.
Everyone loves a good redemption story and Karius is enjoying his right now. For Kane, in contrast, that’s now two league games without scoring at the start of a season for the first time since 2021.
And for Bayern, it’s a first competitive game without scoring after 58 in a row. Karius, given the man of the match award after, was instrumental in that being the case.
