West Ham United goalkeeper Joe Hart endured a mixed night as England beat Slovenia 1-0.
Joe Hart of England foils Tim Matavz of Slovenia
Pundit Martin Keown has told the Daily Mail that he feels England international Joe Hart is ‘very lucky’ after a foul on Slovenia forward Josip Ilicic went unpunished.
England laboured to a 1-0 win over Slovenia at Wembley Stadium on Thursday night, with Harry Kane’s injury-time winner giving Gareth Southgate all three points in what was a dour affair.
The win gives England their passage to the 2018 World Cup in Russia next summer, but manager Southgate will still have plenty of decisions to make before the tournament begins.
One major area of concern is in goal, where Joe Hart – the first-choice stopper for seven years now – has come in for stern criticism from fans and pundits alike since Euro 2016.
In truth, Hard endured a mixed night against Slovenia; he kept a clean sheet and made a superb double save at 0-0, but also should have been penalised for a first-half foul on Josip Ilicic, which would have been a penalty.
Glenn Hoddle may have named Hart as the man of the match on ITV’s coverage of the game, but another pundit – Martin Keown – has told the Daily Mail that he feels Hart is ‘very lucky’.
Keown suggested that Hart could have been on borrowed time as England’s first-choice goalkeeper had the penalty have been given, but he did praise the West Ham summer signing for being brave later in the game.
“There is a lot of scrutiny on Joe Hart and he got away with one when Slovenia were denied a penalty,” said Keown. “Southgate has backed Hart but he has Jack Butland providing strong competition. If he had given a penalty away in the first half last night then he might have been on borrowed time. He’s very lucky.”
“But, credit to the West Ham goalkeeper, late in the game he was brave enough to take a ball in the face for the England cause,” he added.
West Ham have seen nerves and jitters from Hart this season, and with Butland impressing for Stoke and Jordan Pickford developing with Everton, Hart’s spot at the World Cup isn’t quite safe just yet.
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