For the second year in a row, Ethan Horvath has won promotion to the Premier League at Wembley Stadium. The USMNT goalkeeper stood in net at Luton Town went to penalties in the EFL Championship Playoff Final, winning the richest game in world football.
Horvath is originally from Highlands Ranch, Colorado. He had an interesting path to England that saw his parents move with him to Norway as a teenager. In 2017, he got his first big move to Club Brugge KV in Belgium. He spent four and a half years there, mostly as a backup keeper.
He signed as a free agent for Nottingham Forest. He payed 11 matches in all competitions in the 2021-22 season that saw him sub on in the 90th minute at Wembley as Forest won promotion 1-0 over Huddersfield Town.
On loan at Luton Town this year, he played in all but two league games as the Hatters finished third in the EFL Championship. The separated from Sunderland in the Playoff Semifinal at home at the jewel box stadium that is Kenilworth Road.
On Saturday he started at Wembley in the Playoff Final against Coventry City. The nearly 28-year-old didn’t have much to do through 120 minutes as Coventry only had three shots before penalties.
The USMNT third choice keeper appeared to injure his right hamstring in the second half, taking a long goal kick. He limped periodically, including in extra time but toughed it out. He perhaps should have done better on the 66th minute goal that got past him at the far post after a counter attack.
The match headed to penalties after a scoreless extra time. While Horvath has a track record with the United States, neither goalkeeper was the hero on the day. Every kick taker scored through the fifth round. Shooting second, Frakaty Dabo skied his penalty, with Luton winning 6-5.
It’s not clear what Horvath’s future holds. His loan to Luton was just for the season. It’s hard to see him getting minutes at Forest next year. They avoided relegation and have shown their willingness to spend. Horvath didn’t start for them in the Championship.
Luton will need to spend $14.8 million to upgrade their stadium to meet Premier League standards. Playoff promotion teams are usually the worst equipped team to survive in the EPL. Upgrades to the squad will be needed to compete. Horvath’s distribution stats are good, his shot-stopping less so. If nothing else, there will be suitors in the Championship.
It will be interesting to see what this does for his national team stock, given the coaching search. He was clearly behind Matt Turner. He succeeded in the playoffs, something Zack Steffen did not do with Middlebrough. Perhaps he’ll be involved in the Gold Cup or Nations League this summer to impress the future permanent head coach and add to his eight senior caps.
Photo Credit: John Babiak.
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John Babiak 