Journalist Josh Bunting was blown away by a goalline clearance made by Aji Alese during the most recent Sunderland match.
In the Championship over the weekend, the Black Cats had to settle for a point as they were held to a goalless draw at home against Preston North End.
However, the final score would have been much worse for Sunderland had Alese not shown great awareness and composure to flick the ball off the line when Preston’s Ben Whiteman struck a volley that look destined to hit the back of the net.
Reacting to a clip of the highlight online, Bunting expressed just how impressed he was by the defender after he made such a telling contribution.
Indeed, the journalist wrote on Twitter: “It’s actually scary how easy he made that look.”
TIF Thoughts on Aji Alese and Sunderland…
Over the summer, Alese left West Ham United to join the Black Cats on a permanent basis after 14 years with the Hammers. And while he never quite made it at the Premier League club, the 21-year-old seems to be settling in well on Wearside.
So far this term, he has only played five times in the Championship, but the defender has played the full 90 minutes in all of the club’s last three league matches – helping keep two clean sheets in that time (via Transfermarkt). He also managed an impressive 86% passing accuracy and was the highest-rated player on the day (WhoScored).
And it seemed as though Alese impressed in this last match, most notably with that amazing clearance, while he also ‘almost teed up’ a goal for Elliot Embleton – but the Sunderland man failed to convert his chance.
All in all, it’s not been a bad start to life at his new club.