Ian Lawlor is a Republic of Ireland youth international who made a big impression in the NextGen series match with Juventus last night including making a brilliant penalty save. Could he one day support Joe Hart at The Etihad stadium?
It is now widely understood that Manchester City have a goalkeeper between their sticks rated among the best in world and it appears that the future is also bright in this position. While second choice stopper Costel Pantilimon has struggled in his sparse appearances for the first team the clubs NextGen stopper produced a stunning performance against Juventus to have City followers hopeful of a bright future.
The club have helped nurture Hart and Kasper Schmeichel in the past and the big Irishman earned rave reviews, and with good reason for his performance in Italy. In atrocious conditions he looked the more accomplished of the two stoppers on show with Constantin Branescu, a former Manchester United target, at the opposite end.
He dealt with numerous corners and was at no fault for the eventual equaliser that came after the ball ricocheted off the cross-bar into the path of an oncoming Juve attacker. He had already made two superb stops in the first half on a pitch that resembled a water-park and to top off his superb performance he spared the blushes of Kieran Kennedy in the second half. The defender bizarrely handled the ball in the area but Lawlor was not to be beaten and he made a superb penalty save from Simon Padovan.
Here is a collection of the Twitter excitement about this talented stopper…
Did you see the game? Were you impressed with Ian Lawlor?
image: © mr-football
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