Bundesliga
Atubolu sets new penalty-saving record
On the same day as Bayern Munich's Harry Kane raised the bar for scoring consecutive Bundesliga penalties, Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu did the same for stopping them.
While Kane took his spot-kick tally to 17 without missing in the Bundesliga in Bayern's 4-1 win over Hoffenheim, Atubolu's record is no less impressive.
Freiburg were 2-0 up when hosts Werder Bremen were awarded a penalty in the 59th minute, but he dived down to his right to keep out Romano Schmid's effort in a match his side went on to win 3-0.
It was the fifth consecutive penalty the 23-year-old has kept out in the Bundesliga, setting a new league record in the process.
Watch: All five of Atubolu's penalty saves
“Saving a fifth consecutive penalty is crazy," Atubolu said afterwards. "I give thanks to God. I’m delighted because it’s not something you can take for granted. In the goalkeeping team we always discuss penalties before every game, I’m just the one who carries it out on the pitch. As a team we’ve been successful now five times in a row and I hope it continues.
“It was a very important save," the goalkeeper added. "It would have become a really unpleasant game otherwise. It would have been 2-1, here in Bremen. They’ve got a lot of confidence from their last game. Bundesliga matches are always really tight, so it was important to make that save.”
Incidentally, the previous penalty Atubolu stopped was also against Bremen when he thwared André Silva in February this year. Prior to that he also saved penalties from Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen, in December 2024), and Kevin Volland and Josip Juranović (both Union Berlin, May 2024).
Records aren’t something entirely new for the young goalkeeper either. Last season, Atubolu set a club record for Freiburg after going 576 minutes without conceding a goal (between Matchday 19 and Matchday 26).
He was not the only goalkeeper to steal the spotlight with a penalty save on Matchday 4. A day earlier, St. Pauli's Nikola Vasilj did likewise.
Watch: Vasilj's penalty save
With the score still 0-0 at the MHP Arena in the 24th minute, Vasilj kept out a spot-kick from VfB Stuttgart's Angelo Stiller.
It was the sixth of the last seven Bundesliga penalties the 29-year-old has held, giving him the best ratio of all time (86 percent) in Germany's top flight of goalkeepers who have faced at least two penalties.
Pauli were unable to capitalise on his heroics, however, as they went on to suffer their first defeat of the season in a 2-0 reverse.