Toni stepped in for Guglielmo Vicario, recovering from hernia surgery, in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge at Sunderland on 12 April.
His first appearance since a testing night against Atletico Madrid a month previously, Toni impressed despite our narrow defeat at the Stadium of Light and went from strength to strength in the next six weeks as we fought to preserve our Premier League status.
The highlights were a flying save to keep out Joao Gomes’ late free-kick secured a 1-0 win against Wolves at Molineux on 25 April, two saves in the 2-2 draw against Leeds on 11 May – the second, lighting reactions to tip Sean Longstaff’s shot onto the crossbar, has been nominated for Premier League Save of the Season – and finally, another superb tip over to keep out Tyrique George’s effort in added time against Everton. Put those together and Toni has saved us five points.
Speaking to us after securing that vital 1-0 win against Everton, Micky was full of praise for his goalkeeper. “Antonin, unbelievable save, again,” he said. “I think it's the only save of the game, I can't remember him making another big save like that, he has a lot of big moments also with corners and set pieces, but when you step up in this moment, it's massive for us.”
It was put to Micky that Toni had done what all great goalkeepers do – made saves when they matter. “Yeah, he's stepped up,” he added. “When we needed to rely on him, he was there for us and he played a massive role as well. He did an unbelievable job since he came on.”