The Newcastle United centre-back showed his class despite conceding a penalty against Southampton.
Newcastle United defender Florian Lejeune has had to wait patiently to build on his Premier League debut and, unfortunately for the Frenchman, he gave away a penalty against Southampton on Sunday to see two points slip away just as the Magpies looked to be holding on for an important win.
But that blip should not take away from what was a solid all-round performance, even if some Newcastle fans were quick to suggest Rafa Benitez was wrong to select Lejeune ahead of Ciaran Clark.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, in football as in life, and there is no guarantee that Newcastle would have been able to hold the Saints at bay if Clark had started instead of the Frenchman.
The summer signing’s pre-season performances suggested that Newcastle had snapped up another bargain and in time Lejeune is expected to become a stalwart in the Magpies’ back-line, keeping the great and the good of Premier League strikers at bay.
He is used to coming up against the best La Liga has to offer and he is allowed a mistake or two as he gets used to his new surroundings.
While the penalty could have been avoided, it is unfair to case the Newcastle centre-back as the villain on this occasion.
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