Former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn has lavished praise on Marco Silvestri for his heroics for the Whites against Norwich City on Tuesday night.
The Italian goalkeeper has found himself dropped down the pecking order under Garry Monk this season, but came to the fore when needed and made three crucial saves during the penalty shootout against the Canaries to help Leeds secure a place in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup.
Silvestri made a smart save within seconds of the match starting when a loose ball in Leeds’ defence gifted Steven Naismith an opportunity, but the Italian stopped the Norwich striker’s low shot.
However, his real heroics were in the penalty shootout and Redfearn believes that Silvestri’s last save from Sergi Canos’ shot was truly a world class effort that deserved to decide the game.
The former Whites manager told TV Yorkshire: “As it was going towards the end and it looked like that might go to penalties, I had a real good feeling about Marco Silvestri.
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“I know his ability as a shot-stopper and to be fare the saves that he made were right out of the top drawer; the last one that he made against Canos was just out of this world.
“It was a match winning penalty save and at the end it proved to be with Ronaldo Vieira putting in the winner.”
Silvestri however is again expected to drop back to the bench when Leeds take on Burton Albion at Elland Road this weekend in the Championship.
