Maccabi Haifa midfielder Maor Levi managed to save opponent Nodar Kavtaradze from serious injury, as the pair collided on Thursday night.
Haifa hosted Dinamo Tbilisi in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round, second leg, on Thursday night.
Advert
The Israelis went into the game with a 2-1 lead on aggregate, having beaten their Georgian opponents away the week before, in UEFA's latest club competition.
Levi made it 1-0 on the night at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, after just 17 minutes, before Barnes Osei equalised seven minutes later.
Fabian Sporkslede's own goal made it 2-1 to Haifa before half time and the score stayed that way for the first 23 minutes of the second half.
At that point Levi and Kavtaradze both went up for the ball, when the Tbilisi man looked to be hurtling towards the ground in an awkward fashion. Fortunately his opponent saved him by managing to catch the midfielder in mid air and placing him on the ground.
"The smile and appreciation for each other in that exact moment is worth it ... love to see it," snorkelbed commented on Reddit.
Advert
"Great moment, football needs more of this," said another commenter on social media.
"It reinforces "The Beautiful Game" reputation. That it exists and can be seen here and in other vids is pleasing," added a third fan.
"Do FIFA still have the Fair Play award? This fully deserves that," asked arostrat.
"Love how quickly the player smiles and shows his gratitude," exclaimed a fifth commenter.
Omer Atzili made it 3-1 on the night in the 75th minute before Yuval Ashkenazi replaced his teammate in the 80th minute.
Advert
Ashkenazi was on the pitch for just one minute when he made it 4-1, and the 29-year-old added his second in the 85th minute to round off the scoring and make it 7-2 on aggregate.
However it was the act of Levi that should be remembered.
Featured Image Credit: TwitterTopics: Football, Europa Conference League
