Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden's reaction and analysis at The Hawthorns after West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Southampton in the Sky Bet Championship.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 West Bromwich Albion have been beaten 2-0 at the Hawthorns by Southampton, who are now back in second place above Leeds United, pushing on for automatic promotion in the Championship.
00:10 The Baggies meanwhile in front of new owner Shalem Patel, who was immediately present here at the Hawthorns.
00:16 They're only four points above the chasing pack, it might sound like a decent gap, but when all those teams have got to play at the weekend still, the gap could soon close and create even more pressure in the playoff race.
00:27 It was a very disappointing start to the game, Ryan Fraser scoring a very good volley at the far post, very controlled first time to score from a deep cross.
00:35 West Brom didn't defend well enough in that early stage as they didn't look awake, Southampton did, they had a lot more energy.
00:41 Darnell Furlong was held back in the box so he couldn't defend Ryan Fraser's volley properly, but to be honest with you, the positioning was poor to start with from the entire back line, especially Furlong as he left Fraser unmarked to run in at the far post and score that volley to give Southampton the lead.
00:58 In about the 30th minute or so, West Brom gained a bit of momentum, they started pushing on possession, had a couple of good chances before half-time.
01:05 John Swift missing from just outside the box, Brandon Thomas-Assante from nearly a yard or two out putting it over the bar somehow, he was hooked at half-time.
01:14 Start of the second period as well, the baggies looked like they meant business, they were going to get back into the game, but they just couldn't create or convert enough chances.
01:22 Southampton, well they gained momentum again after lots of substitutions around the hour mark, and David Brooks on loan from AFC Bournemouth scoring to make it 2-0.
01:32 A very good finish, played into his path into the box, a great touch to take it around Eric Peters and he put it across goal into the bottom corner.
01:39 No chance for Alex Palmer, no chance for West Brom really to get back from that point. Southampton very good normally at holding on to leads and they managed to do just that.
01:47 Not many chances created towards the end of the game and Carlos Corbrand's men, well it's another defeat here and I should mention Carlos Corbrand right at the start of the game.
01:56 A very bizarre red card, he kicked the ball thinking it was going out for a throw in, he thought the ball was out of play, but the ball kind of glanced off the grass and stayed in.
02:06 Corbrand did touch the ball so the referee Sam Allison had no choice other than to send him off in the sixth minute that was.
02:14 That hit the baggies hard early on I think and disrupted their momentum in the early stages.
02:19 It's a defeat for West Brom and a 2-0 win for Southampton here at the Hawthorns.
02:23 whole things.