Caoimhín Kelleher does not save every penalty he faces, although it does seem like it at times.
The Irish goalkeeper saved his third penalty of the Premier League season on Wednesday night when he collected Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fée’s weak Panenka attempt. Kelleher made the Frenchman look foolish, but standing still on a penalty as a goalkeeper takes a degree of courage.
The Cork man has shown a knack for reading the ways of some of the best penalty takers in the world, including Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes.
The save from Le Fée meant that Kelleher has saved four of the six penalties he has faced in the Premier League — the best save rate of any goalkeeper to face five or more penalties in the competition, according to Opta, with a 67 per cent success rate. According to rg.org, the average goalkeeper in the Premier League only saves 16.27 per cent of their penalties.
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For Ireland he has saved two out of four penalties, a 50 per cent success rate — again way above average. In his senior career, he has saved eight penalties, and conceded seven – his save against Sunderland moving his record from general play better than 50-50, which is roughly three times higher than the average.
His save against Ronaldo in World Cup qualifying, in the hostile environment of Lisbon, came against a player who has scored 179 penalties in his career, at an 84 per cent success rate. Fernandes’ record is even better, at 89 per cent, but Kelleher saved his penalty during the Brentford v Manchester United game earlier this season.
It is worth mentioning that this record is just from general play — Kelleher has shown an ability to save in penalty shoot-outs too. Against Derby County in the League Cup in 2022/23, he saved three penalties in a 3-2 penalty shoot-out win.
The 27-year-old scored the decisive penalty in the League Cup final shoot-out in 2022, as Liverpool beat Chelsea. He left Liverpool in the summer holding the record for the most penalty shoot-out saves (6) and penalty shoot-out wins (4) in the club’s history.
Here are all of Kelleher’s penalty saves from general play in his senior career so far:
League Cup, Liverpool v Norwich, September 9th, 2021
Penalty taker: Christos Tzolis
The Greek international Tzolis’s penalty was saved by Kelleher with his legs as Liverpool won 3-0 in the League Cup third round. Kelleher had gone the wrong way but showed improvisation to save a shot going down the middle. We will see this save again...
Nations League, Republic of Ireland v Finland, November 14th, 2024
Penalty taker: Joel Pohjanpalo
Another superb save at a key moment for Ireland when wins were scarce for new manager Heimir Hallgrímsson. Kelleher dived to his right to keep out Pohjanpalo’s spot-kick and then got up to save Robin Lod’s shot from the rebound. With Ireland in the lead, it was a match-winning intervention, as his side won 1-0.
Premier League, Liverpool v Southampton, November 24th, 2024
Penalty taker: Adam Armstrong
This one was unfortunate as Kelleher read Armstrong’s intentions by saving just right of centrally, but it bounced perfectly for the Southampton striker to score the rebound. Liverpool won the game 3-2 with two goals from Mo Salah.
Champions League, Liverpool v Real Madrid, November 27th, 2024
Penalty taker: Kylian Mbappé
A night where there was an all-island of Ireland intervention against one of the world’s greatest players. Conor Bradley gained fame for a brilliant tackle on Mbappé, while Kelleher denied him from the spot. Remarkably it was Kelleher’s third penalty save in two weeks, diving to his left to palm the effort away, one of many contributions in an outstanding 2-0 win over the then-reigning European champions.
Premier League, Brentford v Manchester United, September 27th, 2025
Penalty taker: Bruno Fernandes
Kelleher made his new employers Brentford happy with a penalty save against one of the best in the business. The Manchester United attacking midfielder opted to stutter less than usual in the run-up and Kelleher read exactly where he was going. He saved the blushes of his team-mate Nathan Collins, who had fouled Bryan Mbeumo, as Brentford won 3-1.
World Cup qualifying, Republic of Ireland v Portugal, October 10th, 2025
Penalty taker: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo saw a penalty saved by an Ireland goalkeeper for a second time, having seen Gavin Bazunu save one in 2021. Kelleher’s feet came to the rescue for a shot down the middle once more. Sadly, Ireland would lose the game 1-0 because of a late Ruben Neves goal.
Premier League, Brentford v Wolves, December 20th, 2025
Penalty taker: Jorgen Strand Larsen
The beleaguered Strand Larsen, with one league goal all season, was no match for Kelleher from the penalty spot, as the Corkman saved to his left after a tame effort. Kelleher had tripped up his international team-mate Matt Doherty to concede the penalty. He kept a clean sheet as Brentford won 2-0.
Premier League, Brentford v Sunderland, January 7th, 2026
Penalty taker: Enzo Le Fée
Le Fée was actually a rare successful penalty taker against Kelleher, scoring for Sunderland in the reverse fixture in August. Perhaps overthinking it when facing the same goalkeeper again from the spot, the Frenchman’s Panenka failed miserably, with Kelleher standing up and collecting the ball, as Brentford won 3-0.
