Peter Schmeichel v Newcastle | The Greatest Goalkeeping Performance in Premier League History

Legendary performance by the Great Dane that had pretty much secured Manchester United's Premier League title in 1995/96.

By 20 January 1996, Newcastle had opened up an astonishing 12-point gap over Manchester United, the Premier League trophy looking destined for the northeast. However, when Manchester United visited St James’ Park on 4 March, Alex Ferguson’s relentless juggernaut had cranked up the pressure, cutting the lead to just four points in a little over six weeks.

Eric Cantona’s winning strike, and Manchester United’s subsequent three points that night, broke Newcastle’s hearts and, from then on in, there was only one winner in the title race. The Red Devils wrapped up the campaign and finished four points ahead of the Magpies, who once again finished runner-up in 1996/97, this time by a wider seven-point-margin.

“We played out of our skins but you could have chucked a handful of rice at Peter Schmeichel that night and he would have kept out every grain,” says Keegan. “It was the greatest goalkeeping performance I had ever witnessed.”

“Peter was unbelievable as he thwarted Newcastle time and again,” writes Ferguson. “Our first concerted attack did not come until just before the interval. It was a relief to gather in the dressing room and take stock of our position.”

“Really, it should have been the same score as the 5-0. It has to go down as one of the outstanding goalkeeping performances of the era. ‘You know what I’m like,’ Pete said. ‘I just like to spread myself and I was making contact with everything. You could have played until midnight and you wouldn’t have scored — I was just having one of those games’.”