‘Excellent’ – Many West Brom fans blown away by ‘man of the match’ v Barnsley
West Brom fans were blown away by the performance of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in their 1-1 draw against Barnsley at Oakwell on Thursday.
Johnstone, 26, made a string of impressive saves as Albion dropped points for the second match in a row but still moved four points clear at the top of the Championship table ahead of Leeds’ late kick-off against Preston.
Filip Krovinovic scored from distance to put West Brom ahead early on but after that, it was very much the Baggies’ rearguard that kept them in the game until Aapo Halme’s late equaliser.
According to stats by WhoScored, Johnstone made a staggering seven saves at Oakwell on Boxing Day.
He averaged 2.9 per Championship appearances before Albion travelled to Yorkshire on Thursday so it was a massive performance in goals by the ex-Manchester United man.
Kyle Bartley’s absence is likely to have contributed to West Brom leaking more shots than they usually would but a defender like Ahmed Hegazi should be trusted to help keep the backline more solid.
Losing Bartley before the match was a blow but at least the Baggies have a top-class goalkeeper in Johnstone they can rely on to keep attackers at bay.
West Brom fans were thrilled with what they saw from the former Aston Villa shot-stopper this week and here is a selection of their tweets:
https://twitter.com/tumpa4tom/status/1210227925288513537
https://twitter.com/B_H_Baggie/status/1210227472136122374
https://twitter.com/vespaned/status/1210227314702897152
https://twitter.com/baggies_i/status/1210226944584880129
In other West Brom news, the club are in pursuit of a right-back from Ligue 1.