Chris Kamara was gushing over Sam Johnstone after the West Brom goalkeeper made a “wonderful save” in the 1-0 win against Brentford at Griffin Park on Saturday afternoon.
Johnstone, 25, made a stunning fingertip save to stop Yoann Barbet from scoring a free-kick in the first-half while the scores were still level.
Kyle Edwards won the game for the Baggies in the second-half, but it could have been a very different outcome if Johnstone was not on form in the Albion goal.
“Their goalkeeper has just had to make a wonderful save,” said Kamara on Gillette Soccer Saturday [03:45pm].
“Yoann Barbet with a free-kick, 20 yards out, left-footed, wind-assisted, heading for the top corner.
“Fingertip save to keep it out.”
OPINION
Johnstone has had a brilliant week for West Brom. The 25-year-old was man of the match in the 3-0 win against Swansea on Wednesday night and was in great form again at Griffin Park to help keep Albion’s faint hopes of automatic promotion alive. Johnstone has been questionned by Baggies fans since being signed from Manchester United in the summer, however it is clear that he was a victim of being forced to play a role he cannot play. West Brom tried to play it out from the back while Darren Moore and Graeme Jones were at the club but since James Shan has taken caretaker charge, it’s been very much back to basics for the ex-Aston Villa loanee. It has helped him cut out mistakes and simply focus on keeping the ball out of the back of the net. Johnstone has a long way to go before fans can say he’s as good as Ben Foster was for the Baggies, but it’s been an impressive week by him definitely.