Simon Mignolet

Simon Luc Hildebert Mignolet (, ; born 6 March 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge.

In the 89th minute of the match, he saved a Jonathan Walters penalty, as well as Kenwyne Jones' follow-up shot, to preserve Liverpool's lead and effectively win the match.

He then recorded two more clean sheets against Aston Villa and Manchester United, with both matches ending 1–0 in favour of Liverpool.

Two weeks later, he conceded his first goals for Liverpool in the Premier League in a 2–2 draw with Swansea City, though he was still named man of the match for the fixture.

Mignolet was also named man of the match in the 3–3 draw with Everton, making nine saves throughout the match.

Mignolet put in another fine performance against Arsenal, as Sunderland drew 1–1 after Darren Bent equalised in the 95th minute.

However, Craig Gordon would replace Mignolet in goal several weeks later, and remained first-choice thereafter.

Mignolet started his career with Belgian Second Division side Sint-Truiden in 2004, and spent six years with the club, making 100 senior league appearances and scoring a goal.

He first joined his local football team, Belgian Second Division side Sint-Truiden, in 2004, eventually rising through their youth system to become their first-choice goalkeeper in 2006 at age 18 after the departure of Dušan Belić.

In 2009, he made 29 appearances and scored a penalty in the league, as he helped Sint-Truiden to win the Belgian Second Division, and was named Belgian Goalkeeper of the Year the following year after he helped Sint-Truiden avoid relegation.

He moved to Premier League side Sunderland in June 2010 for £2 million, spending three years with them and making 101 appearances across all competitions before moving to Liverpool in June 2013 for £9 million.

Mignolet represented the Belgium national team at every level from under-16 upwards.

After being invited for a training ground tour, Mignolet signed a five-year contract with English Premier League club Sunderland on 17 June 2010 in a deal worth £2 million.

It was later confirmed by Sint-Truiden that Sunderland had beaten PSV, Twente and Udinese to secure Mignolet's signature.

Mignolet made his Sunderland debut in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City on 15 August 2010, and was named man of the match for his performance.

In the next home match, a 1–0 victory against Manchester City, Mignolet kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland, following an excellent reaction save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor a goal.

He made his senior debut in 2011, and went on to earn over 30 caps.

Mignolet did not feature again until 8 January 2011, when Sunderland suffered a loss at home to Notts County in the third round of the FA Cup.

Mignolet would become first-choice goalkeeper again after a knee injury to Gordon in February, and earned a string of rave reviews for his performances.

Following the draw, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce hailed the young goalkeeper's fine start to life in English football.

Mignolet cemented his position as first-choice goalkeeper the following season, being preferred to new signing Keiren Westwood.

On 29 October 2011, Mignolet was injured during a 2–2 draw with Aston Villa, suffering a broken nose following a collision with Emile Heskey.

Mignolet played every single match of the following season, keeping a large number of clean sheets and producing several man of the match performances.

His form prompted Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart to praise Mignolet in December 2012 as being the best goalkeeper in the league so far that season.

On 21 June 2013, it was reported Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign the player for around £9 million.

On 25 June 2013, Mignolet signed with Liverpool for a reported fee of £9 million on a five-year contract.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed Mignolet as being "one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier League".

On 13 July 2013, he made his unofficial debut for Liverpool in a 4–0 win in a pre-season friendly over Preston North End.

On 17 August 2013, Mignolet made his official debut in the 1–0 home win against Stoke City at Anfield.

He was also named to Belgium's squad for the 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2016 and 2020.

Mignolet was born in Sint-Truiden.

On 14 December 2014, Mignolet's run of 53 consecutive Premier League starts came to an end as he was replaced by Brad Jones in the starting 11 against Manchester United, with Brendan Rodgers saying Mignolet would be dropped for an "indefinite period".

However, 12 days later, Jones went off injured after 16 minutes away at Burnley, and despite some errors, Mignolet kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory.

After this match, Mignolet kept four consecutive clean sheets against Sunderland, Aston Villa, West Ham United and Everton respectively.

On 10 February, Mignolet made some outstanding saves against Tottenham Hotspur in a 3–2 win.

On 16 March, Mignolet continued his resurgence in a 1–0 victory against Swansea, keeping a clean sheet as part of a strong performance.

On 22 March, he saved a penalty taken by Wayne Rooney in a 2–1 defeat against Manchester United.

On 18 January 2016, Mignolet signed a new five-year deal with the club.

Eight days later, he saved a penalty from Stoke City's Peter Crouch and Marc Muniesa in a penalty shoot-out to send Liverpool to the 2016 Football League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

Although he started the first five matches of the season, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp dropped Mignolet in favour of new signing Loris Karius on 24 September 2016 for the match against Hull City.