Newcastle’s transfer target has already endeared himself to the club’s fanbase by trolling Sunderland.
If James Trafford is to join Newcastle United in the future, the goalkeeper may have already earned the acceptance of the Toon faithful after denying their rivals Sunderland on Friday night.
The Burnley goalkeeper fully earned his man-of-the-match award for an incredible performance between the sticks after earning a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw. That was far from a simple task though as the 22-year-old faced two penalties from Wilson Isidor late in the game, and the reported Newcastle target saved them both.
It was a performance that will do his chances no harm of securing a move to St James’ Park after the Magpies had a £16million bid turned down last summer.
Isidor grabbed the ball after he was brought down by CJ Egan-Riley with 86 minutes on the clock, and the referee pointed to the spot despite replays showing the foul took place outside the 18-yard box.
Isidor stepped up and went for power, but Trafford did his homework and guessed correctly, parrying the ball away to keep the scores level.
But in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Sunderland’s Dennis Cirkin was tripped in the box by Oliver Sonne and the Black Cats were awarded another penalty. Having missed the first, the Frenchman had the bravery to step up again, only for Trafford to get down low and beat away his 12-yard effort.
When celebrating his monumental save, Trafford trolled Sunderland by copying Newcastle star Alexander Isak’s celebration by ‘shooting’ an imaginary gun with his fingers.
It means the Clarets, who have remarkably only conceded nine goals in 27 games this season, remain two points clear of Sunderland in second place as Trafford played down his heroics.
“Just had to get Ceej [Egan-Riley] out of trouble. Got him out of trouble, then he made a great block, it’s what we do, done it since [we were] 12,” Trafford said.
Asked if he was playing mind games by delaying both penalties, the shot-stopper smiled and said: “The first one my laces were undone and the second one my hammy [hamstring] was crying.”
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris admitted Trafford’s mind games could only be commended after making Isidor wait several minutes to take his penalties.
“Yes, it’s smart I think. To wait is to break the rhythm, you can produce doubt and the crowd is around,” Le Bris said after the game. “I should say it’s smart because at the end, it worked for them.”
Later on Friday, Isidor took to social media to write a grovelling apology to the Sunderland fans after his double miss from the penalty spot.
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