A former Southampton flop pulled off a record-breaking achievement at his current club in the La Liga at the weekend.
Russell Martin is looking to avoid breaking records for the wrong reason as Southampton find themselves on just one point after seven Premier League games this season.
That solitary point came against fellow newly-promoted Ipswich Town and was agonisingly close to three before a deflected strike in the 95th-minute saw the shares spoiled.
It was a 3-1 defeat for Southampton last time out as a battling display against Arsenal saw them take the lead through Cameron Archer before being pegged back.
Martin will be hoping for a miracle as he seeks to transform the Saints’ fortunes and perhaps he could look to a former Southampton player for inspiration.
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Former Southampton goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saves three penalties in one game
The goalkeeper position was a real concern for Martin going into the season before it was emphatically addressed with the £25 million Deadline Day signing of Aaron Ramsdale.
This concern was one that Nigel Adkins had the last time Southampton were promoted to the Premier League in 2012, with an ageing Kelvin Davis not necessarily trusted to make the step up so late in his career.
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This saw Southampton pay Gillingham £2.8 million for the-20-year-old Paulo Gazzaniga, who would go on to make just 23 appearances across five years at St Mary’s.
Now 32, Gazanniga is playing Champions League football at Girona and made history at the weekend as he unbelievably saved three penalties in one game to help his side to a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Gazzaniga on making La Liga history
The first of Gazzaniga’s three penalty stops came against Alex Berenguer in the 28th-minute, before stopping Inaki Williams’ spot-kick in the 52nd-minute.
Gazzaniga was deemed to leave his line too early for Williams’ effort so the penalty was re-taken only for the Argentine stopper to deny Ander Herrera.
A mad game was won, inevitably, by a Girona penalty scored in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time and Gazzaniga claimed after the match: “I don’t remember a game like it.”
Girona manager Michel Sanchez was understandably in disbelief at what his goalkeeper had achieved, exclaiming: “I didn’t believe the one he made him repeat because I thought, two yes, but three no longer…
“Gazzaniga made three incredible saves that allowed us to stay alive. I don’t know what would have happened if it had been 1-2.”
Gazzaniga was always considered a goalkeeper with bags of potential and he is now showing that on a regular basis in Spain.