FOR a man who recently celebrated his 43rd birthday, Craig Gordon is well-versed in defying the laws of time. But, at Dens Park on Sunday afternoon, he also seemed to defy the basic laws of physics.
With Hearts down to ten men and clinging on to their 1-0 lead in the dying seconds, Gordon produced an absolutely stupendous save low to his left to keep out a header from Dundee’s Emile Acquah.
Save of the season? Without question. Maybe the save of any season. It immediately drew comparisons with Gordon Banks’ immortal denial of Pele in the 1970 World Cup.
Gordon’s highlights reel is long and distinguished. Of all the great saves he’s made throughout his career for club and country, was this the best of all? Well, there would probably be one other main contender.
Back in 2010, whilst playing for Sunderland against Bolton in the English Premier League, Gordon demonstrated why, at that point, he was one of the best keepers in Europe.
Craig Gordon dives to keep out Emile Acquah’s header and help Hearts to three points
Craig Gordon, on duty for Sunderland back in 2010, keeps Zat Knight’s header out
Only three years previously, Sunderland had paid a British record fee of £9million to sign him from Hearts. How much would young Gordon cost in his prime now?
Anyway, in that game against Bolton, he made a save that would go down in history as Sunderland went on to claim a 1-0 victory.
When the ball fell to Bolton defender Zat Knight no more than two or three yards out, it looked a mere formality that the net would soon ripple.
Yet, incredibly, Gordon reached out with his left hand and clawed the ball away from point-blank range. The ball was basically behind him, and not only did he make the save, he tipped it up over the crossbar to safety.
It was voted the greatest save in the 20-year history of the Premier League back in 2012.
But, in the eyes of this correspondent, his save against Dundee was even better. The context around it all makes a compelling case for this to be viewed as the greatest save of his career.
Back in 2010, at 27 years of age, Gordon was in his absolute prime. Whilst a couple of injuries had disrupted the early part of his Sunderland career, his body was still in relatively good shape.
Gordon takes the acclaim of Hearts fans after his late, matchwinning save against Dundee
It wasn’t until 2011 that he suffered the crucial ligament injury that would threaten to end his career prematurely.
He was released by Sunderland in 2012 and was out of professional football for the best part of two years before joining Celtic in 2014.
Gordon would continue to be troubled by injuries, but none as severe as the double leg break he suffered for Hearts just across the road from Dens Park at Tannadice in a game against Dundee United in December 2022.
That could easily have finished his career. Already pushing 40 years of age at that point, many mere mortals would have called it a day rather than embark on another rehab process and another comeback.
The context of his save on Sunday should not only be viewed through the prism of his age and his powers of recovery, but also through the match itself and the season as a whole.
Gordon won the Premier League’s Save of 20 Seasons for his stop against Bolton
Gordon had not played for Hearts at all since last May. He had not played a minute of competitive football since Scotland’s World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Denmark in November.
Called into action in dramatic circumstances, he came out of cold storage as a substitute following the red card shown to Alexander Schwolow in the first half on Sunday.
Hearts were clinging to a lead, fighting to maintain their place at the top of the table in this season’s title race. Gordon’s heroics ensured they did exactly that.
Throwing himself low to his left, he reached out with his left hand and somehow clawed the ball away when it appeared for all the world that it was behind him and heading into the net.
‘I think it’s as good a save as I’ve made – I surprised myself when it stayed out,’ he said afterwards. ‘Could it be one of the biggest saves in my career? Possibly.
Craig Gordon helped Scotland beat Denmark to qualify for the World Cup
‘Certainly in the context of that game it was, getting another three points and keeping our run going. It kept the gap at the top of the league.
‘I saw it early, managed to change direction, got a great push and just managed to get my fingertips to it to claw it back off the line.
‘I don’t think there has been too many better in my career. I’m not surprised the Dundee striker went to celebrate because I thought it was in myself!
‘But you never know unless you go for it, I just threw everything I had to try to keep it out. I knew it was the very end of the game and one more save would get us over the line.’
Perhaps we shouldn’t have doubted him. Gordon has been written off and apparently finished more times than he would care to mention.
But he was excellent across Scotland’s double-header against Greece and Denmark in November despite going in with no game-time or form to speak of.
He is a man who writes his own scripts. A script which keeps on going and refused to entertain the idea of a final chapter. Only a fool would bet against him lining up for Scotland in the World Cup in the summer.
