Matt Turner was the United States’ penalty hero once again on Sunday night, helping his team to knock Canada out of the Gold Cup.
Having already saved one penalty at the 2023 Gold Cup in the group stage, Matt Turner was called upon again on Sunday night in the United States Men’s National Team quarter-final against Canada.
Unfortunately, Turner couldn’t keep out the first spot-kick he faced on the night, with Canada’s Steven Vitoria converting during normal time to send the game to extra time.
But with the scores level at 2-2 after 120 minutes, Turner got another chance to show off his penalty-saving expertise in the subsequent shootout.
Vitoria had gone straight down the middle in normal time, and he tried the same trick again with Canada’s first penalty of the shootout.
But Turner wasn’t going to be fooled twice, and he flung out a strong right hand to stop the spot-kick.
Brandon Vazquez then missed for the USMNT, putting the pressure back on Turner. But he stepped up once again to save Liam Fraser’s penalty down low to his left.
The U.S. converted their next three penalties, with Canada scoring their next two, giving Turner the chance to win the shootout by stopping Charles-Andreas Brym’s effort.
It turned out he didn’t need to, with the Arsenal goalkeeper’s presence enough to unnerve Brym, who hit the bar.
The USMNT will now progress to the semi-final against Panama, with Jamaica and Mexico in the other semi.
The official highlights from the game are available here, though you’ll need to look elsewhere for full highlights of the shootout.
Turner has now saved 11 of the 25 penalties he’s faced during matches, plus a further three in the 10 he’s faced in shootouts. That’s a 40% save rate overall, well above the 21% average.
After winning the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League and the Best Goalkeeper award earlier this month, Turner moved on to playing in the Gold Cup.
The Arsenal man is one of very few players to feature in both competitions, with the vast majority of the squad being replaced.
For example, Folarin Balogun and Auston Trusty have both left the camp and joined up with Arsenal for pre-season.
The U.S. generally use a rotated squad in the Gold Cup, but with Turner playing relatively infrequently for Arsenal this season, the competition was likely viewed as a chance to get him some extra minutes.