West Ham United goalkeeper Roberto fared well on Tuesday night.
West Ham United are into the third round of the Carabao Cup after beating League Two side Newport County 2-0 on Tuesday night.
The Hammers were looking to continue the momentum from beating Watford 3-1, even with Manuel Pellegrini making a whole host of changes to his side.
It was two midfielders who grabbed the goals as Jack Wilshere and Pablo Fornals struck, but fans will have been impressed with the performance of goalkeeper Roberto.
The summer signing from Espanyol was familiar to Mario Husillos having worked together at Malaga, and he was brought in to replace compatriot Adrian as second choice goalkeeper behind Lukasz Fabianski.
The 33-year-old impressed against Newport, commanding his area well whilst also making key saves, including one from close range from Padraig Amond with the score at 0-0.
Roberto did everything that was asked of him, but the brutal reality is that he may now have to wait a while for another chance in the West Ham side.
Life as a goalkeeper isn’t quite the same as being outfield player. Wilshere and Fornals will be in contention to play against Norwich City this weekend, but Roberto will have to drop back down to the bench.
That’s because Roberto has little chance of supplanting Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham side, and no matter how well Roberto played last night, it was always unlikely to be enough to get him close to Fabianski.
He may now have to wait for the next round of the Carabao Cup for a chance in the team, but if West Ham draw a big Premier League rival, there’s every chance that Fabianski will play anyway; such is the life of a second-choice goalkeeper, but at least he showed what he can do last night.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
