Edwin van der Sar: The Greatest Moments of His Manchester United Career

• Edwin van der Sar remains in intensive care after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage
• He led Manchester United to three consecutive Premier League titles from 2007 to 2009
• He saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the 2008 Champions League final to seal the win

Football legend Edwin van der Sar is in intensive care after suffering bleeding around his brain while on holiday in Croatia.

Dutch club Ajax confirmed the worrying development on Friday.

Manchester United fans and players took to social media to send well wishes to the goalkeeper, who was an important part of their championship teams in the late 2000s.

Sports Brief takes a look at his greatest moments with the Red Devils as he battles the fight of his life.

Premier League three-peat (2007-2009)

Sir Alex Ferguson decided to shore up his team’s goalkeeping ranks after missing out on the Premier League title in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.

Fastest goal in history: Ranking the 10 fastest goals of all-time

Football

United signed van der Sar to a two-year contract after agreeing a move of around £1.5m from Fulham in June 2005, per The Guardian.

He proved to be one of Ferguson’s best signings at Old Trafford as he provided stability at the back and helped solve the No. 1 problem for United.

He showed his worth in the 2006-07 season, helping the Red Devils claim their ninth Premier League trophy.

Fans will forever remember his penalty save from Darius Vassell in the Manchester derby on May 5, 2007 that helped seal a narrow 1-0 win for United.

Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal the following day, ensuring the Red Devils their first Premier League title win since 2003.

His excellent play was recognized by the PFA as he was named in the 2006-07 Team of the Year.

United continued their Premier League dominance in the 2007-08 season, winning the title by two points over Chelsea.

AI names Premier League overrated XI including a treble winner

Football

They won the championship after beating Wigan Athletic on the final day of the season. Van der Sar played a huge part in that win as he recorded a clean sheet in the 2-0 victory.

The Red Devils made it three Premier League titles in a row at the end of the 2008-09 season. They won the league championship by four points over bitter rivals Liverpool.

United’s defense stood tall in that title run, allowing just 24 goals. They tied Chelsea for the fewest goals surrendered in that season.

Van der Sar made history during that campaign, going 1,311 minutes without conceding in the Premier League.

He posted 14 clean sheets in a row during the 2008-09 season, a record that still stands today.

He was named in the 2008-09 PFA Team of the Year.

United win the Champions League (2008)

Manchester United winning the Champions League in 2008 wouldn’t be possible without the brilliance of van der Sar between the posts.

Fixture Congestion a negative damaging the footballing world

Football

He won the third European Cup for United by saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty attempt during sudden death of the shootout.

He talked about that save in an interview with FourFourTwo back in 2017. He explained that he studied a lot of Chelsea’s penalties on DVD before the match.

One of the players he studied was Anelka. He noticed that the Frenchman “would almost always take his penalties to the goalkeeper’s right.”

Van der Sar later found out that the Blues had also done their homework on him, and they learned that he usually dives to his right for his penalty saves.

He believes the players were instructed to shoot to his left, which most of the Chelsea players did except for Anelka.

The pressure was getting intense, though, when it was his turn to take the penalty. Chelsea were down 6-5 in the shootout, and a miss there would end their Champions League title hopes.

Liverpool's past number 7s after Luis Diaz picks iconic number for next season

Football

Van der Sar stuck with what he learned from his research, saying:

“I’d anticipated Anelka would shoot to the other side, and thankfully that is what happened.”

He added that once he pushed away Anelka’s penalty, he felt like he was “separated from the world for a couple of seconds.”

Mount and Martinez train together

Sports Brief recently reported on Mason Mount training with Lisandro Martinez.

Mount met up with some of his new teammates after completing his blockbuster move from Chelsea.

One player who was delighted to meet the former Blues star was Martinez, who had an heated exchange with Mount last year in the Premier League.