Sunderland drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon

Shay Given has delivered his verdict on Aston Villa’s opening goal against Sunderland at the weekend, suggesting that he would “expect” Black Cats goalkeeper Robin Roefs to keep it out.

The Dutchman was beaten from range by Matty Cash in the 67th minute, making a strong connection with the defender’s swerving shot, but ultimately failing to prevent it from flying off his gloves and into the back of the net.

Sunderland would go on to equalise through Wilson Isidor with a quarter of an hour remaining, securing a point in a hard-fought 1-1 draw after playing the majority of the contest with 10 men following Reinildo Mandava’s first-half dismissal.

But while Given has praised Roefs for his early season form, the ex-Sunderland loanee has admitted that he believes the current Black Cats stopper should have dealt with Cash’s strike better.

What did Shay Given Say about Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs?

Addressing Villa’s goal during his punditry duties on Match of the Day 2, Given said: “Well, I’ll try and stick up for him as best I can. Roefs was on fire last week, but he’s not going to be too happy with this. And it’s a great strike from Cash. And you’ll see from behind the goal, how much the ball moves.

“But I still expect Roefs to save this. He’s gone to punch this for some reason. His actual hands are closed. Now, as a goalkeeper, there’s a lot of power on the shot; if he keeps his hands open, he can still pry that away. And last week, Roefs was on fire. This week, Roefs is leaking. What I would say, he’s only 22, he’s only young. He will learn as well.

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“But what I’m saying is, when he closes the gap, the balls coming towards, your hands are smaller... When you open it up, there’s more of the ball to hit, but the pace is on the shot already. You can still bang it away with your hands open. He closes it, makes his hands smaller, and it goes past and goes off the top of his fists.”

Roefs has made an admirable start to life on Wearside, keeping two clean sheets in his first five matches - including his debut against West Ham - and saving a pivotal penalty in a 2-1 victory over Brentford last month.

He also put in a man of the match display against Crystal Palace recently, with head coach Regis Le Bris stating: “I think we need players at that level in the Premier League, otherwise we won't exist. So for me it's not a surprise, I'm really pleased and happy with his performance, of course. But not surprised, and I'm sure he will have other performances like that.

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“Thanks to the team too, because to make these saves you need defenders, you need the block, you need to make it hard for the opponent, and when you are a goalkeeper you have to make the final save.

“Probably because he's young he will improve many things, I hope so. He's really composed, really calm, he understands the game really well. I think his technical and physical attributes, the way he understands the game, the way he can anticipate, the way he can connect with his teammates is really impressive. So for me it's not a surprise, but I'm happy with his performance.”

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