‘World-class’ – Robbie Savage wowed by one ‘Magnificent’ West Brom player in 5-0 loss v Man City
Robbie Savage was blown away by a save that West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone made in the early stages of the 5-0 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night.
Albion suffered yet another humiliating home defeat under the charge of Sam Allardyce but it could have been heavier if it wasn’t for Johnstone’s superb save in the third minute to keep a Phil Foden shot out.
Foden’s early effort deflected off Baggies right-back Darnell Furlong but Johnstone managed to get down low and palm the shot onto the post.
It’s been a horrific campaign for the Albion so far but Johnstone has continued to show he’s been the club’s player of the season with that terrific save from Foden.
“What a start to the game and what a save. World-class,” said Savage on BT Sport 2 on Tuesday night.
“Foden does amazingly well to get the shot off, there’s a little deflection and I’m sure the left hand of Johnstone gets a little touch on it.
“It’s a wonderful save.”
After watching another replay, Savage added: “Look, there’s a little deflection. Just watch this. Full stretch, what a save that is. Magnificent goalkeeping.”
Johnstone alone can’t stop this
It’s crazy to think about how many goals West Brom have conceded this season and say that Johnstone could have stopped a lot of them because to put it simply, he couldn’t have.
Sure, there are some shots where he could have moved a bit quicker or made a better decision like the Harry Kane one.
But overall, Johnstone isn’t doing a lot wrong. It’s just a shame the same cannot be said about the 10 outfield players ahead of him.
Again Manchester City on Tuesday night, we witnessed an absolute abomination of a performance by every single outfield player in blue and white stripes.
Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers did a pathetic job of protecting the back-line, Semi Ajayi and Dara O’Shea were all over the place and the full-backs failed to have the measure of opposition players almost every time they were up against them.
Karlan Grant, a striker who was started out wide, was hopeless tracking back and Robert Snodgrass, Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson couldn’t do anywhere near enough to relieve pressure.
Johnstone’s doing what he can but there’s only so much he can do when he’s forced to face such an embarrassing number of shots each time he plays.
In other West Brom news, there’s been a big update on the ownership mystery at The Hawthorns.
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