This was a great win and after we’d looked all over the place for much of the first-half, we were helped by the dismissal of Thomas-Asante and grew in strength after that, looking the better side for the remainder of the game.
Before
We certainly rode our luck in the Leeds match but we also managed the game well and restricted them to barely a shot on target. West Brom are doing well – they're currently in fifth spot and have one of the best defences in the league – but we've beaten them once this season and I again have the feeling that we're going to get something from this afternoon's game. I was impressed by Pembele the other day and would like to see him play some part again today. I'm not aware of any more injuries or suspensions so I'd imagine there won't be any big changes in the starting line-up from Tuesday's. I'll be in the company of my Sunderland bubble for the game and my match prediction is 1-1.
I got the team-news around 2.00 and there were no changes from Tuesday, which suited me. Yann M’Vila was among their subs. My friends’ match predictions were:- 1-1, 1-1, 0-0 plus 2-1 and 3-0 to us.
The Match
We put together a good move in the second minute that ended with Jobe hitting the deck on the edge of their box. Next thing Furlong skinned our defence and put in a low cross from their right but thankfully we got it clear. Fellows put another cross in from the same position and we’d be made to pay if we kept letting them do that. West Brom continued to do most of the pressing and my mate said, “If we’re gonna win this, we’re gonna have to get the first goal.” A long distance effort from Chalobah had Patto struggling to grab it before their advancing forwards did. We were doing little in the way of attacking ourselves and had reverted to passing sideways and backwards in our own half. We conceded a free-kick in the twenty-first minute in a dangerous position and O’Nien had to head it out for the first corner. When the ball came over Hume nodded it out for a throw on the far side.
Our long passes were going all over the place and another mate said, “I can’t see us gettin’ anything outta this.” On the half-hour mark Pembele went on a good burst down our right that resulted in our first corner but we made nothing of it. It did confirm the positive opinion I’d made of Pembele during Tuesday’s match, though.
We were starting to press forward more but our long-distance passes mostly failed to meet their mark. Thomas-Asante got a yellow for diving in on Clarkey with four minutes to the break and almost immediately after he made a reckless tackle on Ballard and collected a second yellow and a red for his pains. That certainly put a different complexion on the game and as two minutes of added-time were announced we were doing all the pressing and then we won a corner. When Styles’s kick came across it fell to Ekwah who calmy wellied it into the top left corner to put us ahead. At the half-time whistle we were all a bit stunned at us going in 1-0 up.
Chalobah had been replaced by Reach as we kicked off again. We had them pinned back into their half for the first ten minutes without creating any serious chances and then we were awarded a free-kick not far outside their box for a foul on Jobe. It hit the wall, again. A powerful Neil shot was tipped over by Palmer in goal and though West Brom broke quickly from our corner, Hume was there to get a timely tackle in, as so often. Furlong was booked for a push on Clarke and I could feel a second goal coming. A long-distance shot went just wide of our right post and it reminded us of how slender a lead we had.
As we entered the final quarter of the game things were looking pretty good for us and we hadn’t made any changes yet. O’Nien went on a great battling run down the left that resulted in Ekwah having a shot on target but it went straight to Palmer. With twenty minutes on the clock we swapped Roberts and Alese for Rigg and Pembele and I had confidence in both subs. It was now or never for the Baggies and they were pressing forward a lot more. We had a chance when Palmer was way off his line as Jobe chased a through ball but Palmer got there first. We were resorting to some big-boot clearances from our box but they did the business for us. The time was whizzing away and my 1-1 prediction was looking okay… I did feel that we were going to concede as West Brom were speeding down both flanks and getting crosses in. Ten minutes to go and suddenly Styles put on a burst down our left and his shot went only narrowly wide. Ekwah was booked five minutes from the end and then Kipre joined him for a foul on Roberts. We were now doing most of the pressing and looked the likelier side to score. Four minutes of added-time were announced and barring a catastrophe we were looking very good for at least a point. We won a corner in the dying seconds and then it ended 0-1 to much joy all around me.
