Substitute Andi Weimann struck late to hand West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 victory over Tony Mowbray’s Birmingham City.
Mowbray suffered his first league defeat as Blues boss at the hands of his former employers. Ex-Aston Villa striker Weimann netted the decisive goal in an even game in the 85th minute at The Hawthorns.
Stand-in goalkeeper Neil Etheridge enjoyed a quiet start to the game. He wasn’t worked until midway through the first half when Baggies captain Jed Wallace fired straight at him from the left side of the penalty area.
That was the stand-out moment from a dull first half. Blues’ best effort saw Jay Stansfield sting the palms of Alex Palmer from range.
Jordan James was introduced in place of debutant Alex Pritchard at half-time and Lee Buchanan made way for Juninho Bacuna before the hour. Buchanan possibly paid the price for a beating from Tom Fellows in the build-up to a gilt-edged miss from Alex Mowatt.
Mowatt headed wide from close range after being picked out by Fellows. Buchanan – who was also on a booking – didn’t get the chance to face up Fellows again.
Blues weathered the Albion storm and started to make inroads going forward in the final 20 minutes. A corner from Andre Dozzell was met by Kevin Long at the near post and his deft touch struck the far post before rolling back across the line and into the grateful hands of Palmer.
The stage was set for substitute Juninho Bacuna with 10 minutes to go after Siriki Dembele was upended on the edge of the box. Bacuna couldn’t repeat his heroics in Stoke and smashed the free-kick against the wall.
Neil Etheridge 6
Etheridge enjoyed a relatively quiet game thanks to the good work of those in front of him. He stood little chance with Weimann’s close range finish.
Ethan Laird 7
Laird completed his first 90 minutes since November and Blues looked better for it. He was solid at right-back before shifting to the other side to quieten down the dangerous Fellows.
Kevin Long 7
A solid return to the team for Long, who earned cheers from Blues fans in the first half for two big blocks to thwart Thomas-Asante. Long went closest to a Blues goal in the second half.Krystian Bielik 7
Bielik played out from defence well on occasions and looked comfortable alongside Long. The experiment seems to be working for Mowbray and getting the best out of Bielik.
Leave a Reply