Ex-Manchester United stopper Johnstone on West Brom heroics against Manchester City

Ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone said he and his team-mates “love” manager Slaven Bilic after his heroics earned West Brom their first point against Manchester City since 2011.

The 27-year-old put in a man-of-the-match performance in the 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, including two superb stops with his foot to deny headers from Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling.

Johnstone spoke about the two saves that effectively secured a crucial point for the Baggies and praised his team-mates for their work-rate in achieving the result.

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“The boys dug in, we fought for 95 minutes. They had a lot of the ball but we knew that,” Johnstone told Amazon.

“The lads ran their socks off but I was there to make a few saves when needed. The two headers were close and I just got a leg to them and kept them out. The quality of the balls they put in is unbelievable. The lads are buzzing with that result. It’s a massive game coming here.

“We love the manager. We knew getting promoted it would be difficult, we’re not hiding away from that.”

Gundogan put Manchester City ahead on 30 minutes with his first goal in almost a year, but West Brom drew level just before half-time when Ruben Dias diverted Semi Ajayi’s wayward strike into the net.

Despite being under heavy pressure to City for most of the second half, the Baggies held on, with Johnstone insisting the point they earned was deserved because of their endeavour.

“We’re buzzing with that. We knew it would be tough. We rode our luck at times but we deserved that result,” he told BBC Sport. “We’ve played well in a few games and not got the result. Today we kept digging in and when that whistle goes the lads are buzzing.

“We knew the quality they have and it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew they would have a lot of the ball. We thought for the club, for the manager and for ourselves.”

Despite securing an excellent result on the road, West Brom remain in the relegation with only one win and seven points from their first 12 matches. They are two points adrift from safety with Burnley currently sitting in 17th on nine points.