Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel made headlines on Tuesday night when he equalised for the Italian Serie A outfit deep in injury in their 1-1 UEFA Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico.
Pablo Barrios gave Atleti the lead in the 29th minute and it remained that way for virtually the entirety of the game with the Spanish capital outfit looking almost certain of taking all three points from the Italian capital.
They were however denied when Provedel popped up with the equaliser in the dying minutes of the game, heading in Luis Alberto’s cross just seconds away from the referee’s full time whistle to send the Stadio Olimpico crowd into raptures.
1 – Before Ivan Provedel tonight, the last goalkeeper to score in the Champions League had been Vincent Enyeama on 29 September 2010, while excluding the penalties Sinan Bolat on 9 December 2009. Extremis.#LazioAtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/isZtUtJWtF
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) September 19, 2023
Provedel’s feat makes him become the first goalkeeper to score in the Champions League since Vincent Enyeama did so for Hapoel Tel Aviv from the penalty spot in a 3-1 Group B defeat at home to Olympique Lyon on September 29, 2010. The Nigerian goalkeeper also scored a penalty against Red Bull Salzburg on August 18, 2010 in the final round of the qualifiers. Hapoel won the game 3-2 and 4-2 on aggregate which took them into the group stage.
Enyeama featured a total of 14 times in the Champions League playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv and Lille.
With the exclusion of penalties, Sinan Bolat was the last goalkeeper to score a goal in the Champions League, doing so for Standard Liege in their 2-1 Group H win over AZ Alkmaar on December 9, 2009. Tied at 1-1, the Turkish goalkeeper stepped up to score a header from a free kick in added time to hand the Belgian side the victory. He became the first goalkeeper to score from open play in the history of the Champions League.
