Aston Villa beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Aston Villa’s Sam Johnstone
Aston Villa beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 on Saturday afternoon – but it was goalkeeper Sam Johnstone who received the praise.
Villa went into the game against the relegation-threatened Latics having won four of their previous five games, and they managed to grab another victory here.
After a tight first half, Villa struck the opener after the break as James Chester headed into an empty net, after goalkeeper Matt Gilks had failed to deal with Conor Hourihane’s cross.
Scott Hogan then sealed the win by heading home Albert Adomah’s cross, scoring his first Villa goal since his deadline day move from Brentford back on deadline day in September.
Whilst Hogan will grab the headlines for his maiden goal, Villa’s man of the match was in fact goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who turned in a superb display.
Johnstone kept Wigan at bay with a number of saves, denying striker Omar Bogle on multiple occasions to give Villa a fifth clean sheet in six games.
Aston Villa’s Sam Johnstone celebrates
It’s quite the turnaround for the goalkeeper, as he was heavily criticised by Villa fans following his January loan move from Manchester United, having made some costly mistakes for Steve Bruce’s men.
Now though, Villa fans have taken to Twitter to hail Johnstone, admitting that he is looking better by the game – and proving some supporters wrong in the process.
Others want to see the 23-year-old goalkeeper return to Villa Park next season, naming him as Villa’s star man in their 2-0 win over Wigan.
What did you think of Johnstone’s display against Wigan?
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