Christian Pulisic stepped up and looked directly at Torino stopper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

The AC Milan forward was squaring off against Serie A’s most in-form goalkeeper from the penalty spot.

Pulisic was three from three since moving to Italy, and there was an air of anticipation inside the Stadio Olimpico di Torino as to whether he could make it four from four. He couldn’t. 

Milinkovic-Savic dived to his right, Pulisic hit the ball in the same direction, and the Toro goalkeeper met the ball with his right palm, registering his fourth penalty save of the season. It was the first time Pulisic had missed from 12 yards in his career.

Milinkovic-Savic went on to produce further fine saves, first from Santiago Gimenez and then Tijani Reijnders as Torino held on for three massive points that will go a long way to securing Serie A football for another season.

Yet the game was just another reminder of how good the Serb goalkeeper has been for the Granata this season.

In addition to Pulisic, saves against Mario Pasalic and Mateo Retegui (both Atalanta) and Santiago Castro (Bologna) have earned the 28-year-old the title of king penalty stopper this season.

Moreover, no goalkeeper in Serie A has saved more shots than Milinkovic-Savic. Ninety-eight shots saved is 13 more than the next-best, Lecce’s Wladimiro Falcone. 

Between penalties saved and shots saved, Milinkovic-Savic is the most in-form goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues, according to La Gazzetta.

The young brother of former Lazio midfielder Sergej, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic has endured a difficult road to being one of the stars of the current Serie A season.

Signed by Manchester United early in his career as a teenager, Milinkovic-Savic was denied a work permit in 2015, and so the club let him leave.

He signed for Polish outfit Lechia Gdansk and remained in Poland for a year before Torino signed him in January 2017. They promptly sent the youngster out on loan to gain experience.

Spells at SPAL and Ascoli followed, as well as a brief stint in the Belgian Pro League with Standard Liege. He returned to Turin and slowly became a regular from the 2021-22 season onwards. 

Now closing in on 150 games for Torino in all competitions, Milinkovic-Savic has slowly morphed into one of the club’s best players, and indeed one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Often overshadowed by his sibling, Sergej’s departure from Serie A in the summer of 2023 has made room for the younger brother to steal the limelight. 

With 12 games remaining, Milinkovic-Savic is now only two penalty saves away from equalling the record in a single season, which belongs to then-Udinese stopper Samir Handanovic. The Slovenian goalkeeper saved a ludicrous six penalties from eight attempts in the 2010-11 season. 

As it stands, Milinkovic-Savic is tied with Gigio Donnarumma, who saved four in the 2019-20 season with Milan. 

Yet the Serb isn’t the only goalkeeper impressing in Italy. Former Juventus and Como shot-stopper Emil Audero was also in fine form at the weekend. 

Audero signed for Serie B side Palermo on the final day of the winter transfer window on loan from the Lariani, and the former Sampdoria goalkeeper made some terrific saves in the 3-0 away win at Cosenza.

With the score even, Audero made two spectacular saves to deny the struggling Calabrian side the lead. 

Palermo eventually came into the game and scored through Niccolo Pierozzi, Matteo Brunori and fellow new recruit Joel Pohjanpalo. In total, Audero made six saves in the game, with five of them coming inside the penalty area.

So good was Audero’s performance that the Indonesian-born goalkeeper was voted as Serie B’s MVP for the weekend. 

Audero will be hoping his form will continue for the Rosanero, as the Sicilian side harbour ambitions of making it into the promotion play-offs and a potential return to the big time for the first time since relegation in 2018. 

Capped by Italy up to Under-21 level, the 28-year-old will be hoping for an extended run in the Palermo first team and, should promotion happen, Audero could potentially break into the Azzurri squad. 

Of course, Audero won’t be first choice, but Donnarumma can’t play every game, and so Audero, along with the likes of Juventus’ Michele Di Gregorio, could be understudies to the Paris Saint-Germain star going forward.

Jonathan Klinsmann, son of legendary Germany striker Jurgen, is also enjoying a productive spell with Cesena between the sticks.

Klinsmann, in his debut season with the club, produced a string of fine saves to deny Cremonese multiple times during the surprising 2-1 away win. Cesena’s win at the Stadio Giovanni Zini keeps their promotion play-off dreams alive, and also put a huge dent in Cremonese’s aspirations of a return to Serie A.

Attackers get most of the plaudits in the modern game, but Serie A is filled with top goalkeepers, from Yann Sommer at Inter and Marco Carnesecchi at Atalanta, to Ivan Provedel, Mile Svilar and Lukasz Skorupski at Lazio, Roma and Bologna respectively.

It’s time goalkeepers got their due, with Milinkovic-Savic and Audero leading the way.