Jordan Pickford’s Stunning Save Secures Everton’s Win at St James’ Park

Jordan Pickford’s bar-rattling miracle that sealed Everton’s win at St James’ Park has been crowned the 2025/26 Coca-Cola Save of the Season – and it’s hard to argue with the verdict.

Everton were hanging on. Deep into stoppage time, 3-2 up away to Newcastle United, the ball dropped to Sandro Tonali on the edge of the box. He caught it flush, a vicious, rising volley that looked destined to rip into the top corner and rip up Everton’s night.

Then Pickford intervened.

The England No 1 exploded to his right, flung up a strong hand and somehow diverted the ball onto the crossbar and away. It wasn’t just a save; it was a full-stop on the contest. Newcastle’s roar turned into a gasp. The away end erupted.

David Moyes did not dress it up.

“It was worthy of a goal,” the Everton manager said afterwards. “Tonali couldn't have hit that any better or any sweeter if he tried again. It was technically brilliant, his volley, but I have to say that the save was out of this world."

Alan Shearer, a man who knows a thing or two about beating goalkeepers, went straight to the top shelf of praise. The Premier League’s record scorer with 260 goals called it “world class”, adding that the speed of Pickford’s reaction to get the ball onto the bar was “remarkable”.

Inside the Everton camp, the reaction was just as emphatic. Centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, who had the perfect view of the strike and the stop, labelled it “the best save I have ever seen”.

The award panel clearly agreed.

That late, match-winning intervention had already been recognised as February’s Coca-Cola Save of the Month. It was one of two monthly awards Pickford collected in the 2025/26 campaign, making him the only goalkeeper all season to win the honour more than once. Those two took his career tally to four Save of the Month awards – a Premier League record.

From there, the season-long prize felt inevitable. The Tonali stop was shortlisted alongside nine other standout efforts: nine Premier League Save of the Month winners and a final contender from Tottenham Hotspur’s Antonin Kinsky, whose fingertip denial against Leeds United in May also made the cut. James Trafford, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Martin Dubravka, David Raya, Alphonse Areola, Aaron Ramsdale, Karl Darlow and Kinsky all had their own moments of brilliance in the mix.

Pickford beat them all, winning after a combination of public votes and the verdict of a panel of football experts tilted decisively his way.

This latest honour underlines a growing personal history with the award. Pickford has now claimed Coca-Cola Save of the Season twice, adding 2025/26 to his success in 2021/22, the inaugural year of the prize. From the first edition of the award to its current chapter, his name keeps reappearing at the sharp end.

On a frantic night at St James’ Park, one hand on one shot changed a result, secured three points and, months later, delivered a trophy of its own. The question now is how many more seasons the league’s defining saves will keep arriving off the same gloves.