Ross Jones

Mon 28 September 2020 8:30, UK

West Brom could hardly have dropped points in a crueler manner than they did against Chelsea on Saturday evening. 

The Baggies were pegged back by a stoppage time equaliser from Tammy Abraham after having led 3-0 at the break, and while a point would have been welcomed with open arms at kick-off, it felt like a real sucker-punch come the final whistle.

But to what extent can we blame Sam Johnstone for the goal?

The stopper got a hand to initial effort that led to Abraham’s tap-in, and there have definitely been times in the past when he has come in for criticism from sections of the fanbase.

Overall, Saturday’s outing was a bit of a bizarre one for the Baggies keeper.

Despite conceding three goals, he did make seven saves – one more than he has in his first two Premier League outings combined, as per Wyscout.

By and large, however, they were stops that you would expect him to make.

Just one required a reflex reaction, although it is worth pointing out that the strike from Kai Havertz, marked as number four on the graphic, did have an individual xG of 0.65.

As we can see from the image below as well, it forced into a full-stretch dive from Johnstone to turn it round the post.

But come the final whistle, the keeper was still left with his head in his hands.

So, could he have done more to preserve his side’s slender lead in the dying seconds?

In the first instance, it’s worth pointing out that Johnstone’s line of sight is severely blocked as the initial shot comes in.

There is a forest of bodies between him and the ball, and you would imagine that makes it very difficult for him to see the effort as it comes in.

Indeed, it would appear that Johnstone – through no real fault of his own – sees the ball very late.

Even as the ball is a couple of yards away from him, we can see in the image above that he is still pretty much upright.

What that means is that when he does react, he is forced to fling himself down low to his left at the last possible second in a fairly desperate motion.

Bearing that in mind, it is understandable that his technique is not as clean as it might otherwise be, and that ultimately leads to the weak wrist which leaves Abraham with an open goal.

In an ideal world, Johnstone would be pushing that round the post and out of harm’s way.

But given the circumstances and the lateness with which he sees the initial shot in the buildup, there’s not a great deal he can do here.

Is it a disappointment to see a goalkeeper fail to deal with a shot like that? Yes, of course.

But was it also an unfortunate series of events that made it look worse than it actually was for the stopper? We think so, yes.

In other West Brom news, Incredible 25yo makes up for stinker from mainstay: 3 things we learned from West Brom v Chelsea.

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