As Newcastle half cruised, half scraped to a 1-0 victory over Norwich at St James’ Park on Sunday, goalkeeper Tim Krul was once again central to the Magpies’ success. The young Dutchman made some crucial saves, most notably from a close-range header, as Alan Pardew’s number one kept yet another clean sheet.
It’s clear to see that the one weakness in Krul’s game is his distribution, most notably his kicking, and he struggled even further with his ground kicks when he looked to have tweaked his hamstring in the second half. However, the 23-year continued to take the goal kicks for the rest of the match, so fears of an injury seemed to be allayed.
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This good news was confirmed yesterday as Krul Tweeted: “Just had result back of the MRI scan.. All clear.. already looking forward”. So Tim will be fit and raring to go against West Brom at the Hawthorns on Sunday, where he’ll be looking to keep Peter Odemwingie and co. off the scoresheet and secure back-to-back clean sheets for Newcastle.
One thing’s for sure, Newcastle will be glad that Krul will take his place in between the sticks, but also that they’re not travelling to London, as their last two visits to the capital have results in the Magpies shipping seven against Tottenham and Arsenal.
Let’s hope that Newcastle’s trip to the second city will see the Magpies be more frugal at the back, as West Brom certainly conceded enough chances against Wigan at the weekend to see the Toon hit the back of the net on Sunday.
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