Sam Johnstone blamed for Blackburn Rovers goal v West Brom
Sam Johnstone was at fault for Blackburn Rovers’ goal against West Brom on Saturday afternoon as Ben Brereton took advantage of his mistake.
West Brom raced into an early lead at Ewood Park after a volley from Alex Mowatt in the first minute before Matt Phillips scored on the stroke of half-time.
The West Midlands club looked comfortable but Blackburn pulled one back in the 51st minute after England goalkeeper Johnstone rushed out of his goal and kicked the ball against Brereton for an easy finish into an empty goal.
Neil Mellor was commentating for Sky Sports Soccer Saturday [21/08/21] and detailed the 28-year-old’s mistake before West Brom ended up 2-1 winners.
“It’s a lovely little ball in behind but Brereton isn’t going to get there,” he said.
“The goalkeeper Johnstone gets there but makes a mess of it.
“He kicks it against Brereton and he tucks it into the empty goal.
“It’s a goalkeeping error, Blackburn are back in it.”
Rare
Johnstone has enjoyed a stellar 12 months so these sorts of errors raise eyebrows when they do happen.
Despite a torrid 2020/21 Premier League campaign that saw the Albion relegated back to the Championship, Johnstone managed to enhance his reputation and ended up as England’s number two for the 2020 European Championship where they finished as runners-up in July.
He was on the bench for Albion’s first game of the season against Bournemouth but was restored for the first home game of the season against Luton Town last weekend before keeping his place for the last two games.
Despite a summer of speculation linking him with a move away from The Hawthorns, it looks like we may hold onto Johnstone for another year at least.
That would be music to the ears of most West Brom fans, but hopefully, there will be fewer of these errors over the course of the season.
In other West Brom news, Albion in line for cash windfall as ex-player enters into £9m transfer talks.
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