Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SO SOLID KRU
Tim marks Holland recall with outstanding display
THE last time Tim Krul reported for international duty he was embarrassed by Norwich’s lowly position in the Championship.
It was a month ago and they were 17th in the table.
Now he jets off to Amsterdam as Holland’s new No.1 – for this month at least – with the Canaries flying high again.
Marco Stiepermann’s late goal settled a tight match between two sides of equal stature, ambition and playing style, and Krul was a huge reason for that.
Three times he foiled Jamal Lowe when it looked like the Swansea striker was certain to break the deadlock, and was the busier goalkeeper in a game of 40 shots overall.
Now former Newcastle shotstopper Krul , 32, can look forward to Holland’s matches with Spain, Bosnia and Poland as usual pick Jasper Cillessen is injured.
He said: “It’s incredible. I reported to Holland last time when we were 17th in the league and they were looking at me a little bit like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re doing well in the Championship’. Now I’m walking in a little bit different, for sure.
“It’s only Spain on Wednesday! It’s exciting. The No.1 is injured, so I just heard. So hopefully I’m getting my minutes again. I feel good on the back of some really good results. I definitely think I ’m going to get some minutes.”
Stiepermann’s first goal since
April 2019 – he was a promotion star who struggled i n the Premier League – lifted the home side into third, pushing the Swans down to sixth.
Steve Cooper’s side would have gone top had they won and they had enough chances to do just that.
The second of Lowe’s trio of opportunities, when substitute Ma t t G r i m e s played him through midway through the second half, was the one that really should have been put away.
Andre Ayew, a constant menace, hit the post with a header early on and Swansea were convinced they should have had a penalty after the break when Max Aarons lost his bearings and upended Jake Bidwell.
“It’s just stonewall,” said Korey
Smith, one of three ex-canaries in the Swans side. “I looked around at their bench and you could see on their faces, ‘Oh, that’s a penalty’.
“On another day we’d have probably scored two or three. Their keeper has made some really good saves, and then to be fair to Stiepermann he was clinical at the end – it was a good finish.”
It was indeed. The German, teed up by Emi Buendia, lashed a low left-footer in off a post from 16 yards to end his personal goal drought.
Krul 9, Aarons 7, Hanley 6, Zimmermann 6,
Sorensen 6 (Mumba 68, 7), Skipp 6, Mclean 6, Buendia 6 (Tettey 90), Stiepermann 7, Placheta 6 (Martin 68, 5), Pukki 6
SWANSEA CITY: Woodman 7, Naughton 6 (Grimes 46, 6), Bennett 7, Guehi 7, Roberts 8, Smith 7,
Fulton 6 (Dhanda 86), Bidwell 6, Palmer 6 (Gyokeres 59, 6), Lowe 6, Ayew 8