A clean sheet on the scoresheet can hide a busy night in goal, and that was the case for Andrea Fulignati as Cremonese won 2-0 away at Mantova in Serie B.
Fulignati made eight saves across the ninety minutes, repeatedly standing in the way of a Mantova side pushing to get back into the match. He finished with a match rating of 9.5, the kind of number reserved for goalkeepers who decide a result on their own.
Shutout the hard way
Cremonese took the points 2-0, and on another day a keeper facing eight saves worth of work might have been beaten at least once. Fulignati was not. Every stop kept Mantova scoreless and kept the away side's lead intact until the final whistle.
Clean sheets that come from a quiet night are common enough. This one came from a goalkeeper who had to work for every minute of it, and the scoreline at the final whistle, Mantova 0-2 Cremonese, reflects as much his evening as it does his team's.