Kyle Walker Compilation Shows He’s The Best In The World At Goal Line Clearances

Liverpool fans are raving about Fabinho's goal-line clearance vs Ajax, but last night Kyle Walker reminded us who's the real GOAT at keeping ball away from net.

The Manchester City defender has produced some stunning goal-line heroics, denying the likes of Mohamed Salah and Christian Pulisic with his trademark acrobatics.

Walker added to his hall of fame against Porto in the Champions League, via a brilliant backheel as he raced back towards his own goal. BT Sport have since shared a video showing off his best clearances - and we have no idea how some of these stayed out.

Most special of all is his scissor-kick to deny Liverpool a late victory in the 2019 Community Shield. Salah's header looked destined for the goal, until Walker flew in like a train and somehow flicked the ball clear, while the City player himself crashed into the net.

Zlatan himself would be proud of such flexibility. Walker himself tweeted afterwards: "All that #Kyling practice finally paid off!"

No idea what that means. We've always put the 30-year-old's remarkable clearance skills down to his raw pace, athleticism and dogged determination. But clearly "Kyling" is a secret ingredient too.

Walker's sliding clearance against Chelsea in June of this year is another eye-opener. The England international races past Fernandinho to get to the ball on the line, then somehow does not turn it into his own net. Amazing.

Some might argue that City's defensive problems, as Pep Guardiola's side are regularly caught on the break, may be part of the reason why Walker needs to pull off these spectacular denials so often. But we prefer to focus on the positives.

Walker may not be the defensive GOAT in every area of the game, but few players so regularly pull off such defensive magic on their own goal line.

If you can think of a player with a better collection of astonishing clearances, let us know in the comments.

All imagery: BT Sport/PA Images

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Football, Man City, Champions League, Kyle Walker

Alex Reid

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

@otheralexreid