In the 65th minute of Newcastle Jets’ 1-0 win over Melbourne City, defender Philip Cancar pulled off a miraculous goal-line clearance… with his chest!
Nathaniel Atkinson looked near certain to open the scoring for City at AAMI Park, before the Jet somehow got in the road to prevent the ball finding the back of the net.
“Oh! That is miraculous from Cancar!” said commentator Ben Homer on Paramount+.
“A goal-line save off the chest. On his return from injury, that is a massive play.
“… We talk about magnificent goals inspire kids to be strikers, it’s those kind of moments that inspire young kids to be defenders.”
Central Coast Mariners legend Daniel McBreen added: “That is fantastic from Phillip Cancar.
“That is wonderful positioning and then to get the chest down, he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to get the leg up… and kept it out, saving Noah James.
“That was fantastic defending.”
Speaking after the game, Jets boss Rob Stanton revealed the context behind Cancar’s involvement in the match, which perhaps makes this moment even more impressive.
Indeed, the defender was making his return from an injury that had kept him out for three matches.
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“Credit to Phil, because he had been out for about four weeks,” Stanton said.
“We gave him a really intense isolated session at the end of training and we literally killed him.
“I said you’re not in for the Auckland game, but I had a word to him that I’m going to start you against Melbourne City.
“I threw him in there, he’s punched out 90-odd minutes. He’s got that in him. I could just see it in his eye that he could do it.
“That is a big effort from Phil today and that save on the line was brilliant. Credit to him, because we put him through the wringer, rewarded him with a start and he didn’t let us down.
“That is that mentality he’s got. I’m really happy for him.”
The Jets went on to win the game 1-0, thanks to a goal from Lachie Rose.
